32 environmental groups push back on refinery water intake plan

A rare coalition of environmental groups and public officials has stepped up to pressure the state regarding the Delaware City Refinery's daily use of 300 million gallons of Delaware River water.

New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon, 13 state lawmakers and 32 environmental organizations signed on to letter describing as "inadequate" a proposed Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control permit for the refinery's water intake and discharges. They're urging the agency to uphold an earlier recommendation for a cooling tower system that would recycle water and better screen out fish.

The 5,000-acre refinery, which can refine 191,000 barrels of crude oil daily, uses a 1950s-era design to draw in water to cool equipment before discharging the heated water into the river.

Critics say the system is outdated and the state should do more to protect the environment. The last five-year permit was issued in 1997. The refinery has been operating under permit extensions since 2002.

"Scientific studies conducted since this permit was issued have documented that the refinery kills millions of aquatic organisms per year, including valuable commercial, recreational and forage fish species," the Delaware Audubon and the Sierra Club Delaware chapters wrote in a separate, 64-page comment on the state permit plan.

Other signers of the separate letter include Greenpeace, Green Party of Delaware, Delaware Coalition for Open Government, American Littoral Society and Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute.

PBF Energy, which acquired the site in 2010, is applying for a new permit to generally continue current intake rates and update pollution release limits.

State regulators in 2010 estimated that a more modern cooling system that would recycle water would cost the refinery $75 million. PBF officials have said recently that the system could cost $300 million and take five-10 years to install. They also said withdrawals have already been cut by a third in recent years.

"Is cost a consideration? Absolutely," refinery official John Deemer said during a public hearing in March. "We have 450 employees and an equal number of contractors that rely on us for employment and the benefits that we provide."

Critics also accuse DNREC of short-circuiting the permit process by agreeing in advance to interim cooling water requirements during closed-door meeting with PBF on a settlement for past environmental violations. The agreement required an immediate start to installation of a $15 million improved fish-screening system on plant intakes, but allowed further study of overall cooling water installation under a new permit.

"Instead of abiding by this (regular) process, DNREC erred by negotiation to approve the option selected by the refinery behind closed doors, as part of the settlement agreement for permit violations," the Audubon and Sierra Club letter said.

Public comment on DNREC's proposed permit ends Tuesday. The agency has not said when a decision will be made.

Both the letter and the Audubon/Sierra comment support installation of the recycling water system. Federal regulators have said water recycling could cut freshwater demands by as much as 95 percent and drastically reduce losses of fish and other aquatic life.

The Delaware Audubon and the Sierra Club chapters as well as The News Journal have filed Freedom of Information Act requests for public records on the negotiations. Administration officials have declined to release some records, citing confidentiality or potential litigation exemptions.

Gordon, who has publicly supported labor groups in matters involving refinery expansions in recent years, was among those to send a letter urging DNREC to reconsider.

"He said, in general, it was something that environmentalists called for, and he respects their position," said Antonio Prado, Gordon's spokesman. "Therefore, he decided to join that list."

Audubon and Sierra said that the permit process favored "economic gain for PBF investors."

"DNREC knows that the science is clearly cooling towers" as far as the best technology, Audubon and Sierra said, "but the governor and secretary of DNREC who make these decisions will do so based on economics and politics, not based on sound science."

PBF also has projected healthy operations and revenues for the refinery in coming months, helped by a growing domestic oil industry. The refinery handles oil shipments on train cars sent from across the country.

The dispute comes as Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. seeks approval for 3 billion gallons of Delaware River water intakes for the proposed twin Salem nuclear reactors in Lower Alloways Creek, New Jersey.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is expected to release a draft permit for the Salem plants, which also use once-through cooling, by the end of this month. The nuclear complex ranks as the nation's largest consumer of water from a free-running river, according to Energy Department records.

The environmental group Delaware Riverkeeper, which also signed the refinery letter, has said the billions of fish, fry and eggs lost to the plant make it "the biggest predator on the river."

Contact Jeff Montgomery at (302) 463-3344 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com

Groups oppose Delaware City Refinery water intakes

A group of lawmakers and environmental groups wrote a letter to the state environmental department regarding the Delaware City Refinery's use of 300 million gallons of Delaware River water each day.

Officials

New Castle County County Executive Tom Gordon

Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton

Sen. Bethany Hall-Long, D-Middletown

Sen. Bryan Townsend, D-Newark

Rep. Charles Potter Jr., D-Wilmington North

Rep. Helene Keeley, D-Wilmington South

Rep. John Mitchell, D-Elsmere

Rep. James Johnson, D-New Castle

Rep. Kimberly Williams, D-Newport

Rep. Paul Baumbach, D-Newark

Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark South

Rep. Earl Jaques, D-Glasgow

Rep. W. Charles Paradee, D-Dover North

Rep. Sean Lynn, D-Dover

Organizations

Alewives Anonymous, Inc. (Massachusetts)

American Littoral Society (New Jersey)

Angler's Conservation Network (New Jersey)

Conservation Law Foundation (Massachusetts)

Delaware Audubon Society

Delaware Chapter, Sierra Club

Delaware Chapter, Surfrider Foundation

Delaware City Environmental Coalition

Delaware Coalition for Open Government

Delaware River Shad Fishermen's Association (Pennsylvania)

Delaware Riverkeeper Network (Pennsylvania)

Delaware Surf Fishing

Great Egg Harbor River Council and Watershed Association (New Jersey)

Green Delaware

Green Party of Delaware

Greenpeace (Washington, D.C.)

Herring Alliance (Massachusetts)

Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon Society (New York)

Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute Inc.

Menhaden Defenders (New Jersey)

National Audubon Society (New York)

New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (Massachusetts)

New Jersey Audubon Society

New Jersey Sierra Club

Newark Branch NAACP

Operation SPLASH (New York)

Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club

Progressive Democrats for Delaware

Protecting Our Waters (Pennsylvania)

River Herring Rescue (New Jersey)

The Safina Center (New York)

Wyncote Audubon Society (Pennsylvania)