Colorado neighbors react to Suncor air quality violation: "This is just the beginning"
Suncor Energy has received a notice of violation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment over their emissions.
This is far from the first time Suncor has gotten in trouble with regulatory agencies. The CDPHE has issued three "compliance advisories" against the facility since 2021, and in February of this year, they ordered the refinery to pay $10.5 million toward penalties and projects as a result of air pollution violations from July 2019 through June 2021. Suncor paid the penalties from the state's February 2024 enforcement package by the March 6, 2024, deadline, as required.
However, the EPA says this is the first such notice they've issued to Suncor, and neighbors hope this time it will lead to change.
"Everybody's like, 'just move. Why don't you just move?' Why would I rip my family away from the only community they know? Why don't they leave?" asked Lucy Molina.
The Commerce City resident has spent years speaking out against her least favorite neighbor, Suncor Energy.
"We have normalized it in our community. 'Oh, it smells like sulfur, like rotten eggs here,' but we don't understand that every time we smell that, that we're actually smelling poisons," said Molina.
Molina believes the refinery's emissions are to blame for community health issues, from bloody noses to eczema to cancer.
"Our families dealing with the chemo, the cancers, with the leukemia, my neighbors with the asthma. Is that why my stomach hurts today? Is that why I can't breathe properly?" said Molina.
But this week, the EPA and CDPHE issued a notice of violation to the refinery, alleging they violated the Clean Air Act and state air quality regulations.
The notice follows an October 2023 Clean Air Act inspection at Suncor that was led by EPA and accompanied by CDPHE and incorporates CDPHE's June 2023 compliance advisory against Suncor. The agencies allege violations of:
- The Clean Air Act's standards for benzene waste and other hazardous air pollutants;
- Clean Air Act performance standards and Title V permitting rules;
- The Colorado Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act and Colorado Air Quality Control Commission regulations;
- Suncor's Title V operating permits issued by CDPHE under the Clean Air Act.
"It feels to me that finally we are being heard. It's not like we're asking for a favor, we are asking for justice," said Molina.
Both agencies are investigating the violations and will determine an enforcement response.
Molina hopes it will be stronger than past regulatory actions.
"I think this government, along with this entity, owe this community way more than a slap on the wrist," said Molina.
Ian Coghill, senior attorney with Earthjustice's Rocky Mountain Office, said, "EPA's inspection and violation notice is a big step in the right direction, but it is just a first step. There is still a long road toward holding Suncor accountable for its many violations."
Last month, the environmental advocacy group announced its intent to sue Suncor over repeated Clean Air Act violations on behalf of community members like Molina.
"That was to hold them accountable. At the end of the day, it really is to start leading to more actions like this," said Molina.
She hopes the notice is the first step towards a brighter future for her community.
"This is just the beginning, so we need more of this. Our past has been a stinky past all these years. We need to start healing. We need to start cleaning up. We need to start holding these entities accountable at the end of the day," said Molina.
Despite numerous attempts to get comment from Suncor Monday and Tuesday, all the agency shared was that they "have received the notice and are in the process of reviewing it."
