The Environmental Protection Agency Monday found problems with another Colorado-issued permit for Suncor’s refinery operations in Commerce City and ordered revisions. Regional and national EPA offices made the same objections and demanded revisions to a different state permit for Suncor in 2022 and 2023.

The EPA, reviewing petitions from environmental advocates, sent the proposed state permit for Suncor plants 1 and 3 back to the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division to answer detailed questions or make outright revisions to the permit mandates. The order signed by acting EPA administrator Jane Nishida agreed in part with the advocates’ claims that the state permit may not properly monitor and calculate pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds emanating from the big refinery. 

“Once again, EPA found Colorado is failing to ensure adequate monitoring of toxic air pollution and failing to ensure Suncor is held fully accountable to safeguarding clean air and public health,” said Jeremy Nichols of the Center for Biological Diversity, which objected to the plants 1 and 3 permit — the west side of the sprawling complex — alongside the Sierra Club.

“While this is an important win for clean air, it’s still beyond disappointing that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment refuses to do the right thing here,” Nichols said. 

The division said it was reading through the 39-page permit objection and did not have comments Tuesday. 

The objections from the advocates that were endorsed this week by the EPA are similar to criticism of a 2022 permit update granted by the state to Suncor’s plant 2, the eastern portion of the refinery. The EPA’s Region 8 office based in Denver first objected to the state’s plant 2 permit draft in 2022. The state made revisions, but environmental advocates in 2023 successfully petitioned the EPA for more changes. 

The permit for plants 1 and 3 was issued by the state in March, and survived an EPA initial review. But the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity filed formal petitions. 

“Everything EPA agreed with us on were issues the agency already objected to in relation to the plant 2 permit,” Nichols said. 

Major air polluters in Colorado are allowed to continue operating on the terms of expired permits as long as they are complying with deadlines for renewals. Colorado has been far behind in issuing updated permits. Various forms of the Suncor plants 1 and 3 permit have been up for renewal and state drafts since 2016, according to the EPA’s new ruling.

Suncor, the only refinery in Colorado, produces gasoline and other petroleum products for transportation, as well as aviation fuel for airports. The Canadian-owned public company has been a frequent violator of Colorado air pollution laws. 

The EPA and state regulators in July hit Suncor with a new round of pollution violation notices for the past two years, despite a $10.5 million settlement for similar 2021 transgressions that state officials vowed would set the refinery on a path to cleaner operations.

A 140-page litany of alleged new violations compiled by the EPA’s regional office in July accused Suncor of continued releases of benzene and other toxins into the air and water around the Commerce City plant. The newest violations, including in some areas the EPA had not pinpointed in previous inspections, boosted criticism from neighbors and environmental groups that small fines have not altered the course of Suncor’s multi-billion dollar business. 

“The Commerce City refinery has been subject to state air enforcement actions by the (state Air Pollution Control Division) annually for at least the past 10 years,” the EPA’s new notice of violations emphasized.