Suncor sued by environmentalists over Colorado refinery emissions
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Environmental groups have filed notice to sue Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) under the U.S. Clean Air Act for repeated air pollution violations at its Commerce City, Colorado, refinery, Reuters reported Wednesday.
The groups said they will bring the civil suit against Suncor (SU) over more than 1,000 emission violations that Earthjustice said the company reported to state authorities during 2019-23.
A lawyer representing the environmental groups said the maximum penalty for every day of violation under the Clean Air Act is up to $121K, and the suit alleges 9K days of violations.
Commerce City is Colorado’s only refinery, processing 98K bbl/day of oil, but has been plagued by problems in recent years including a fire in 2022 and complaints from residents about air quality.
In February, Suncor (SU) was fined $10.5M by the state of Colorado for violating air pollution laws during 2019-21.