The Department of Environmental Protection Monday announced it has reached settlement on a penalty of $400,000 against Monroe Energy, LLC, which owns and operates a refinery in Trainer Borough, Delaware County, for air quality violations at its facility.

Through a Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty, Monroe has agreed to pay the settlement amount, which will be paid to the Pennsylvania Clean Air Fund.

Emissions reports submitted to the Department by Monroe showed that the company exceeded several permitted emission limits for several pollutants, including hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, and failed to satisfy the data availability requirements.

The settlement covers the period between July 2013 and June 2016.

“This penalty reinforces how important it is for companies to accurately control, track and report their emissions,” said DEP Southeast Acting Regional Director Anderson Hartzell. “We take air quality issues seriously, and it is our duty to protect the health and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth and the environment.”

In November 2015, Monroe installed a flare gas recovery system to recover flare gas and reduce emissions. Since this installation, reports from the facility’s continuous emission monitoring system have shown significant reduction in emissions.

A Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) is a combination of hardware and software used for the continuous monitoring and recording of compliance for certain emissions standards.

Questions should be directed to Virginia Cain, DEP, 484-250-5808.

NewsClips:

DEP Fines Delco Refinery For Air Pollution Violations

Delaware County Refinery Pays $400K In Penalties For 3 Years Of Air Quality Violations

[Posted: April 10, 2017]

4/17/2017