Colorado Reaches Backroom Deal with Suncor to Avoid Key Water Permit Provisions

Colorado Reaches Backroom Deal with Suncor to Avoid Key Water Permit Provisions

Environmental justice and conservation groups cut out of settlement process despite intervention

Contacts

Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, [email protected]

Environmental justice and conservation groups today sounded the alarm over a backroom deal that was struck between the state of Colorado and the Suncor refinery to avoid enforcement of key water permit provisions. The settlement agreement, which was executed on July 23, provides a pathway to eliminate important permit provisions for Suncor and keeps the public in the dark by weakening disclosure requirements. Environmental justice and conservation groups were entirely left out of the settlement process, despite the fact that they were admitted as interveners in the case in support of the Water Quality Control Division. The division did not even inform the groups of the July 23 settlement until several weeks after it had been signed.

"Communities living in the shadow of Suncor have borne the brunt of toxic pollution for decades, and once again their voices have been shut out," said Jessica Herrera, counsel with GreenLatinos. "A closed-door deal that weakens permit protections is not just a bureaucratic failure, it is a betrayal of the Latino, immigrant, and working-class families who live, work, and play along these waterways. Colorado cannot claim to prioritize environmental justice while cutting impacted communities out of decisions that put their health and future at risk. We deserve transparency, accountability, and strong enforcement, not backroom bargains with polluters."

In March 2024, the Water Quality Control Division updated Suncor's water pollution permit. Earthjustice, representing GreenLatinos, Sierra Club, and Denver Trout Unlimited, subsequently challenged several of the permit's conditions in administrative court in April 2024. The groups argued that the permit set a PFAS "forever chemical" limit which was too high, had inadequate PFAS monitoring requirements, gave Suncor far too long to come into compliance, and failed to prevent groundwater seepage of benzene and PFAS into Sand Creek and the Burlington Ditch. This challenge is still pending.

"Whenever a taxpayer-funded agency strikes a backroom deal with a private polluter that jeopardizes public health and our vital watersheds, we must demand accountability," said Nic Hall, president of Denver Trout Unlimited. "The Denver South Platte River is not an industrial sewer-it's a critical source of drinking water, a thriving recreational haven, and essential habitat for fish and wildlife cherished by Front Range communities."

Suncor also challenged a number of additional permit conditions in administrative court, including the permit's salt effluent limitations, arsenic limitations, and its public notification requirements. Environmental justice and conservation groups intervened in this case in support of the division.

In July, Suncor and the division reached a settlement agreement on this appeal behind closed doors, excluding intervening groups from discussions even though they were admitted as a party to the case. Under the agreement, the division will allow Suncor to seek removal of permit conditions the refinery has challenged, and in the meantime the division will not enforce those permit terms. This is not the first time that such an agreement has occurred - the state has a history of capitulating to Suncor and letting it thwart environmental regulations.

"Colorado leaders like Governor Polis and CDPHE officials talk the good talk about the environment but when it comes down to it, they repeatedly cave in to industry demands," said Ramesh Bhatt, Conservation Chair at Colorado Sierra Club. "In the current case, they went out of the way to shut out environmental groups and community members and reached a dirty deal with Suncor behind closed doors. Because of this, communities downstream of Suncor are going to continue to be exposed to dangerous chemicals like PFAS for years to come."

"It is entirely inappropriate for the state of Colorado to negotiate a settlement with Suncor behind closed doors that provides a free pass for the refinery to pollute our waterways, while weakening its obligation to inform the public," said Michael Freeman, senior attorney with Earthjustice's Rocky Mountain Office. "Environmental justice and conservation groups were admitted as interveners to help prevent this exact scenario, but we were cut out of the process entirely. Impacted community members' voices deserved to be heard and that did not happen."

Environmental justice and conservation groups plan to continue fighting the problematic provisions included in their appeal. They will also monitor Suncor's discharges and intervene if necessary if Suncor violates the terms of its permit.

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