Keith Matheny

Detroit Free Press

The area around Marathon's Detroit refinery will see increased sulfur dioxide air pollution from the plant whether a new air pollution permit is approved or not.

Of the 22 additional tons of sulfur dioxide the Marathon Detroit refinery plans to add to the area's air each year, 16.5 tons are already allowed under its existing permit, and require no additional approval or review, a state Department of Environmental Quality official said.

Marathon officials, however, say they have other projects in the works — including some mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — that will, over the next few years, result in a net reduction of sulfur dioxide pollution from the refinery.

Task force a response to Flint crisis, refinery debate

The petroleum company is seeking a new air pollution permit from the DEQ that would allow it to increase emissions of at least eight air pollutants at its southwest side facility, including sulfur dioxide, a pollutant for which the EPA considers southeastern Wayne County — including the neighborhoods near the refinery — "in non-attainment," or exceeding federal guidelines. The emissions would be the result of Marathon's plans to update its liquefied petroleum tanks storage, and to install equipment to meet an EPA mandate to produce lower-sulfur gasoline beginning in 2017, its so-called "Tier 3 project."

The refinery's request to hike its pollution emissions has sparked an outcry from area residents who already feel beleaguered by the poor quality of the air in their neighborhoods, which are surrounded by steel factories and coal-fired power plants. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan last month threatened a lawsuit if the proposal moves forward, and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans also expressed opposition.

Duggan threatens suit over Marathon refinery emissions

Of the 22 tons of additional sulfur dioxide emissions each year mentioned in Marathon's permit documents, only 5.5 tons is related to the refinery's facility upgrades. The other 16.5 tons would come from projected increases in refinery production, according to Andrew Drury, a senior environmental engineer with DEQ's Air Quality Division.

"If the Tier 3 project does not happen, Marathon is already allowed to emit the roughly 16.5 tons under their existing permits," he said.

"I don't think it's fair," said Sharon Bell, 70, who lives less than a quarter-mile from the refinery on Edsel Street.

Bell said her 2-year-old great-grandson often comes to visit her, and she worries about what the local air quality means for his health.

"There's a burning smell in the air sometimes, and when they're releasing whatever, there's a fog," she said.

Michael Tate, 55, a lifelong resident of Annabelle Street just blocks from the Marathon refinery, was incredulous.

"They want to increase the pollutants in air that's already heavily polluted. Wow ... wow," he said.

Drury said that under state and federal regulations, an increase in sulfur dioxide has to be 40 tons per year or more before a "control technology review" is required, where regulatory agencies review a polluters' methods of limiting air pollution and perhaps require updated technology. Marathon's permits allow it to emit 400 tons of sulfur dioxide per year, and the refinery emitted only 211 tons in 2014, he said.

"The Tier 3 project would not increase Marathon's allowed emissions above 400 tons per year," Drury said.

Sulfur dioxide modeling for southeast Wayne County shows Marathon's emissions are not contributing to the problem, Drury said. For perspective, he cited the coal-fired DTE Energy Monroe power plant, less than 30 miles down the road, which ,despite adding $1.2 billion in desulfurizing pollution control technology in recent years, has a limit of more than 14,000 tons of sulfur dioxide emissions per year.

That, however, was of little consolation to residents taking a not-one-bit-more view of the air pollution they live with.

"If the regulations say they can do it, they need to change," Bell said.

Said Tate, "So the regulations say it's OK to over-pollute an area. The DEQ are spokespeople for the refinery."

Marathon's actual spokesman, Jamal Kheiry, said the refinery is responsible for less than 3% of the air pollution in a 2-mile diameter around it.

"We're always looking to reduce our sulfur dioxide emissions — all of our emissions, the criteria pollutants that EPA tracks — and we've had success doing that," he said. "Since 1999, we've reduced our air pollution emissions by over 70%." Those figures were supported by the state's Michigan Air Emissions Reporting System, the DEQ's emissions-data collecting system from permitted industrial facilities.

In response to public comments opposed to its effort, Marathon is voluntarily reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from a portion of its facility as part of the Tier 3 project. The $2 million effort will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by about 5.2 tons per year, Drury said.

Marathon also has committed to reduce emissions from its flares — the flaming towers where excess hydrocarbon gases that can't be be recovered or recycled are burned off — as part of a settlement with the EPA, a $58.5-million project that will install or modify gas recovery systems on two of its flares, and lead to the shutdown of a third flare. Those modifications will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 50 tons per year, based on emissions data from 2013 and 2014, according to company officials.

The DEQ is currently evaluating public comments received on Marathon's permit application, and will then make its decision. The decision will include a document responding to comments, Drury said, adding that there is no timeline on when a permit decision might be made.