Health Department Sends Suncor Air Quality Permit To EPA

DENVER, CO — The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced Wednesday that it has sent to the Environmental Protection Agency a Plant 2 Title V permit to be reviewed for Suncor.

If approved, the permit would require Suncor to reduce emissions and increase transparency about its emissions, a news release said. Legally, the health department must grant a renewal of a Title V permit if the permit complies with all requirements. The health department also has the authority to strengthen the standards listed in the permit.

In this instance, the health department used its authority to strengthen those standards significantly, according to the news release. The new permit was submitted to the EPA on Feb. 8, and allows the EPA up to 45 days to review the permit, either approving it or providing feedback to the health department.

This new permit has been in the works for more than a year, with the health department holding outreach meetings with local community members. After addressing all public comments, the department drafted this new permit in accordance with state and federal laws to best protect the health of the public and the environment, the news release said.

The new restrictions that the permit would impose upon Suncor's refinery include increased monitoring to ensure the refinery is within its "permitted limits for opacity," a requirement for the company to post emissions monitoring data, stricter monitoring requirements and performance testing requirements to "verify hydrogen sulfide emissions from the sulfur recovery plant."

“We are grateful for the community’s feedback and will continue to listen to them and keep them informed throughout the permitting process for Suncor," said Michael Ogletree, director of the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division. "The health and wellbeing of Coloradans is our top priority. When drafting the permit we sought to create additional requirements to protect public and environmental health and be responsive to Coloradans."

The health department also said that it will hold another public session after the permit is approved by the EPA to discuss the permit, the process behind the permit and any other steps the department is looking to take to protect those near the Suncor refinery.