DOVER, Del. (AP) - A state panel is set to hear a high-stakes appeal by environmentalists of an air pollution permit issued to PBF Energy's Delaware City oil refinery.
The permit granted by Delaware's environmental secretary in May involves the loading of crude oil onto barges for shipment to another PBF refinery in Paulsboro, N.J.
That operation is part of a larger transfer operation in which PBF brings crude oil by rail from various sources, including tar sands oil from Canada, to a new rail loop near Delaware City that can accommodate hundreds of tanker cars each week.
Delaware's Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board meets Tuesday to consider arguments by the Sierra Club and Delaware Audubon Society that PBF's crude oil transfer operation is not allowed under a 1971 coastal zone protection act.
