EPA warns that Suncor has more air pollution incidents than other refineries

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that Suncor has more air pollution incidents than most other refineries because of poor maintenance, testing and inspection. The report released Friday compared incidents and malfunctions at Suncor and 11 similar refineries across the country. 

They found that from 2016 to 2020, Suncor had some of the highest numbers of incidents that released sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide into the air. 

Health officials said those chemicals are potentially dangerous and can cause difficulty breathing, poor memory, and balance problems among other issues. 

"Our plan is that we will use this information from the analysis to target and focus our inspections," said Suzanne Bohan, director of the EPA Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division.

State health officials are still working to determine how much authority they have to require Suncor to make changes to prevent air pollution incidents.