Sunoco’s Darby Creek Tank Farm is a petrochemical storage facility covering over 4 million square feet immediately adjacent to the Darby Creek and the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge. The site has a long history of pollution, including a 2005 oil spill. The site previously stored waste products from the former Philadelphia refinery. Sunoco is attempting to renew its stormwater management permit at the site. The permit is inadequate for protecting the safety of the Darby Creek, the Delaware River, and people who recreate in and around these waterbodies, including at the Heinz Refuge.

Sunoco must clarify its accounting of pervious and impervious land (land that drains and land that doesn’t) on the site, which is critical for calculating how water moves through the site. Sunoco claims this site is 100% impervious, which would indicate that absolutely no area of the site drains to groundwater. However, satellite imagery shows what appears to be dirt on the majority of the site, which would make it pervious and therefore allow stormwater to drain directly into the ground at certain spots. Other similar tank farms in the area also include pervious, draining land that accesses groundwater. A failure to properly account for pervious land could lead to the migration of contaminants into the Darby Creek when it rains.

There is ongoing cleanup of contamination at the site. In January 2020 the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved site-specific standards for known carcinogens like arsenic. Site-specific standards are standards for allowable concentrations of harmful contaminants at a specific industrial site for which companies can seek approval. Site-specific standards are less stringent than the default values in state regulations. This is very concerning because the site drains directly into the Darby Creek. 

The current stormwater permit does not require testing toxic pollutants like arsenic that are known to be present at the site. 

Please ask DEP to hold a public hearing on stormwater management at the site when it is safe to publicly gather. The Philadelphia area has experienced record-breaking precipitation this summer and in recent years. The DEP must increase stormwater testing at sites like the Darby Creek Tank Farm to ensure that contaminated water does not pollute our creeks and rivers. 

Sincerely,