The controversial Suncor refinery in Commerce City must sharply limit water discharges of PFAS “forever chemicals,” as well as benzene, arsenic, selenium and other toxins as part of a final water quality permit renewal issued Wednesday by Colorado health department officials.
New PFAS restrictions of 70 parts per trillion won’t be enforceable, however, until April 2027, state officials said, as federal rules require giving Suncor enough time to build treatment facilities to get the chemicals out of water discharged from the plant. State officials and environmental groups have noted Suncor PFAS discharges spiked frequently since a December 2022 fire at the refinery, with discharge tests hitting as much as 2,500 parts per trillion in June of 2023.
Some of the tougher restrictions on Suncor were signaled as early as November 2021, when the state hailed its draft renewal of the refinery’s water discharge permit as a national model. Since then, state regulators and environmental watchdog groups have clocked numerous spikes of PFAS and benzene discharges from Suncor.
“We’ve developed the most protective water quality permit Colorado has issued for Suncor, said Nicole Rowan, division director of the state health department’s Water Quality Control Division. “The permit will ensure that Suncor’s facilities operate effectively while holding the facility accountable and ensuring cleaner, safer water in the surrounding community. This is a big environmental win for Colorado.”
“It is more restrictive than their previous permit, in a number of ways,” said Trisha Oeth, state director of Environmental Health and Protection.
The Forever Problem
“Forever chemicals,” or PFAS, are an increasing toxic burden on Colorado. We’re committed to covering the public health threats, from water and croplands to the costs to clean them up.
>> Find more coverage
Environmental groups have previously praised some of the tougher provisions in the draft version of the Suncor permit, which went out for community comments and regulators’ revisions. Earthjustice had said their research into water quality permits in other states shows Colorado’s specific PFAS restrictions in the Suncor permit make it a uniquely strong set of rules. They seek stronger downstream protections for water departments that take drinking water from the South Platte River, and for wildlife along the way in Commerce City, Adams County and other areas.
Many however wanted Colorado’s PFAS restriction to go further than the federal guidance of no more than 70 parts per trillion for discharge water. Federal officials have updated drinking water standards, which are far more stringent than discharge water, to as low as 0.02 parts per trillion for the variant PFOS, and 0.004 ppt for PFOA.
“While we are pleased to see PFAS limits included in this permit, we are left wondering why Colorado didn’t include the most protective limits based on current scientific understanding about the dangers of these chemicals to the surrounding communities,” said Ean Tafoya, state director of GreenLatinos. “Suncor continues to get years to comply at the expense of all of us. The impacts to water quality and downstream communities like Thornton will remain a priority for GreenLatinos.”
While state officials are making a distinction between discharge water standards and tighter drinking water standards, Tafoya said, “It is all connected. Suncor has the resources to build the infrastructure to meet stricter standards, period. People over profits.”
Earthjustice found other concerns as staffers read through the 82-page permit upon its midday release.
“This permit gives Suncor an extraordinarily long time to comply with permit limits. The company won’t have to meet its PFAS limits for three years. For several other pollutants, Suncor will get more than six years to comply,” said Mike Freeman, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain office. “That timeline is problematic because this is only a five-year permit. In other words, this permit should expire before Suncor would have to comply with these limits.”
State officials highlighted new permit conditions, including:
● Terms to prevent future spills and exceedances of permit limits for pollutants like benzene.
● Limits on PFAS “forever chemicals” to protect downstream drinking water agencies and customers.
● Requirements to inspect the facility more often and send text notifications when spills occur to people signed up for their text notification program.
● Limits on salt and arsenic to protect downstream agriculture and drinking water.
● Updated conditions for metals, temperature and selenium to help protect the environment, including river fish and other animals.
The Suncor refinery in Commerce City last June recorded PFAS in its discharge water into Sand Creek at more than 10,000 times the EPA drinking water limit for the substance set last year, according to monthly reports to state health officials.
The massive June spike in the toxic chemicals, used in waterproofing and stain-resistant coatings, coming off Suncor’s compound dwarfed the previous high readings in the Sand Creek discharge. Measurements of one particularly troubling form of PFAS, referred to as PFOS, hit 2,500 parts per trillion in June, compared with the EPA’s updated drinking water health advisory of 0.02 ppt for the chemical, according to Earthjustice, which monitors Suncor’s state filings.
One outflow measured at Suncor registered November readings at 1,100 ppt of PFOS in discharges, and then 218 parts ppt in May, Earthjustice noted. The nonprofit watchdog group said throughout 2023 that it was time for the state to finish rewriting Suncor’s draft permit and move on to tougher enforcement of PFAS and benzene-control agreements with the company.
Suncor reported a major fire and shut down operations entirely at the end of 2022. Suncor’s reports to the state indicate the fire and firefighting liquids overwhelmed the treatment system, leading to the excess discharges, Earthjustice said last year.
State regulators also warned Suncor of benzene violations in 2023, with possible fines from “significant noncompliance” that poured benzene-tainted water into Sand Creek at up to 160% of permitted levels in repeated leaks this year, records show.
“Due to the severity and/or persistence of these violations, the Water Quality Control Division is initiating a process to determine whether a formal enforcement action is warranted,” with potential fines of more than $61,000 a day, the division wrote to Suncor in mid-June.
Suncor’s repeated violations of both water quality and air quality standards have been a major impetus for a growing environmental justice movement in Colorado, building this year to a series of legislative battles over bills meant to cut pollution and expand state oversight of companies like Suncor. Some of those bills are coming directly from the Polis administration, which has been criticized by local officials, some Democratic legislators and environmental and community advocates for not pushing hard enough to cut greenhouse gas and ozone pollution, and water contamination.
The latest is House Bill 1338, backed by the state health department. A key part of it is aimed at major “refineries,” of which Suncor is the only one in Colorado.
The bill would pay for the department hiring a refineries expert to assess potential new rules for controlling Suncor’s repeated violations of pollution limits. Suncor would also have to boost real-time emissions monitoring for the state to watch.
The bill is co-sponsored by Democratic Reps. Manny Rutinel of Commerce City and Elizabeth Velasco, Glenwood Springs, and Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet. Other aspects include:
- Opening an Office of Environmental Justice within the department and tasking it with producing a definitive set of reports on the cumulative impacts of pollution on Colorado’s most heavily affected communities.
- Creating a “rapid response inspection team” in the pollution control division for quicker action on community complaints about oil and gas facilities, in particular.
- Allowing local governments for disproportionately impacted communities to seek authority from the Air Quality Control Commission to limit new emissions within their boundaries.
To recap some of the other pollution bills filed this session: One would expand the Air Quality Control Commission with positions favored by progressives, and allow the state to target greenhouse gas cuts to specific companies, while also closing “pay to pollute” loopholes in industrial air emissions caps. Another would phase in an eventual ban on new oil and gas wells in Colorado. Another three related bills tied together would increase potential fines for polluters, overhaul the permitting process and “pause” new oil and gas activity during the crucial summer ozone months.
Chemicals from the PFAS family — there are thousands of variations — have been used for decades in firefighting foam at hazardous sites like Suncor, as well as countless consumer and industrial products advertising nonstick coatings or lubricating properties. They easily permeate into groundwater and don’t degrade over time. Removing them from drinking water supplies is expensive.
While federal and state officials are still establishing safe human consumption limits for PFAS, the EPA says studies show the chemicals cause “reproductive and developmental, liver and kidney, and immunological effects in laboratory animals,” as well as tumors. High cholesterol levels in those exposed are also common impacts.
State officials said in 2021 they believe PFAS firefighting foam used in the past by Suncor — and at that point still stored on site, according to the state — has contributed to “highly contaminated” groundwater under and around the facility.
This story will be updated with additional comments.