COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — For the second time in a month, the Environmental Protection Agency has fined Suncor Energy for violations at its Commerce City oil refinery.
Suncor will pay $760,000 after it produced gasoline that did not meet federal standards for reducing ozone pollution during the summer months. The Canadian company will pay a $160,000 financial penalty for the violations, plus an additional $600,000 to fund a program to buy electric lawn equipment for local governments, schools and residents in Commerce City and north Denver, according to a consent agreement approved by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board.
The money for the electric-powered lawn equipment will be distributed to the community in 2024 by the Regional Air Quality Council, the agency announced Wednesday.
“We want to acknowledge right off the bat we can’t undo damage that’s done by a polluter,” said David Sabados, spokesman for the air quality council. “What we’re able to do is go into a community and improve air quality that could in some ways offset it.”
During the summer of 2021, Suncor produced more than 32 million gallons of gasoline with an average benzene concentration of 1.77 volume percent, the EPA’s news release said. The maximum allowed in summer months is 1.30 volume percent.
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