Environmental justice and conservation organizations filed a lawsuit today against Suncor Energy, the operator of a Colorado oil refinery that is one of the greatest sources of air pollution in the state. The complaint charges that Suncor has repeatedly violated the Clean Air Act by failing to control hazardous emissions from its Commerce City refinery, resulting in long-lasting harm to surrounding communities in North Denver. Earthjustice filed the lawsuit on behalf of GreenLatinos, the Sierra Club, and 350 Colorado.

Prior to filing the lawsuit, Earthjustice and clients documented over 9,000 instances of Clean Air Act violations. That includes exceedances of federal limits of airborne particulate matter, toxic emissions like benzene and formaldehyde, and other dangerous pollutants. In 2020 alone, the Suncor refinery emitted approximately 20 tons of hazardous air pollutants, 500 tons of carbon monoxide, 50 tons of nitrogen oxides, 125 tons of particulate matter, 450 tons of volatile organic compounds, and 230 tons of sulfur dioxide.

Suncor’s pollutants pose an ongoing health threat to the refinery’s neighbors, predominantly communities of color who are more likely to be economically disadvantaged. Residents of neighboring zip codes suffer disproportionately from high rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Client groups, whose members and supporters include those impacted by the Suncor refinery, sought meaningful enforcement action against the refinery from the state of Colorado and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prior to taking legal action. The EPA recently issued a Notice of Violation to Suncor about some of the same violations in the groups’ suit. However, after years of the government failing to act, the groups were compelled to seek the strongest action possible against all of the allegations in their suit and remain determined to do everything in their power to protect community members from continued harm. Through this lawsuit, the groups seek remediation for Suncor’s extensive violations and to deter the refinery from continued Clean Air Act violations going forward.

“Our members have been very concerned about the pollution from Suncor for years,” said Heidi Leathwood with 350 Colorado. “Their health concerns have been ignored for too long. No matter how many times Suncor is sanctioned they continue the same pattern of exceeding their permit limits without regard for the community. It’s time for that to end.”

“Commerce city has been the sacrifice zone for corporations like Suncor for so long, the abuse to my community has been normalized and even expected to happen for Colorado’s economy,” said Renée M. Chacon, a member of GreenLatinos and an impacted resident of Commerce City. “No more normalizing this level of cumulative pollution for any community, Suncor should be prosecuted for more than just fines, especially in a state that has acknowledged environmental justice should be a human right to access clean air, land, water, and a better quality of life for all.”

“We are exercising our right to challenge Suncor who has been emboldened by a regulatory enforcement system that has not been successful in bringing it into compliance,” said Ean Thomas Tafoya, Colorado State Director with GreenLatinos. “Our members and my mother in North Denver are impacted. We have made a commitment to continue to use more sophisticated legal strategies in self-defense for the community.”

“Suncor has repeatedly exceeded its air permit limits for years and is sending that pollution into the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Ian Coghill, Senior Attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “The community groups were compelled to file this suit because actions by the state or EPA up to this point have done nothing to limit Suncor’s exceedances. The Clean Air Act exists to protect communities from serial polluters and those communities have to step in to ensure Suncor’s pollution limits are actually enforced.”

“When state and federal agencies have continuously been unwilling or unable to rein in this pollution, environmental justice and climate groups are stepping in to enforce the law and ensure that Suncor does not continue putting corporate profits over people’s health and safety,” said Ramesh Bhatt, Chair, Colorado Sierra Club Conservation Committee. “Useless slaps on the wrist clearly won’t stop a company with decades-long history of violating its permits and polluting the community.”

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Denver, Colorado. The suit follows other concerted efforts by community groups to reduce the pollution from Suncor. In April, groups filed a challenge to the water permit recently issued to Suncor by state regulators. Groups also have a pending notice of intent against the EPA for failing to revise Suncor’s air permit after it found the state had not issued an adequate permit.