Suncor Oil Refinery in Commerce City (Denver, Grand Junction: houses, to live, air quality)

[nele]

I read this month that Suncor has backed out of a plan to partner with another Canadian company, to produce ethanol from beetle-kill pine. The plant was originally going to be in Commerce City, but they changed the location to Grand Junction, closer to the fuel source.

(Moot point since they are backing out of the project, but I wonder if that's why they were / are planning to expand the Commerce City site. I find some reports online of this expansion; some think it might be a good thing since Suncor would be forced to use cleaner technology. )

Hopefully, the biofuels project will still go forward - the other company says it's going to look for a different partner (so it can use the pot of DOE money it was awarded for this project). Ethanol sure isn't a perfect solution, but anything that moves us away from oil, seems to me should be pursued.

Does anyone live near the refinery in Commerce City? I'm wondering if Suncor is still going to expand their operation there, and if so how that will affect the air quality both locally, and in the Denver metro area.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by nele

I read this month that Suncor has backed out of a plan to partner with another Canadian company, to produce ethanol from beetle-kill pine. The plant was originally going to be in Commerce City, but they changed the location to Grand Junction, closer to the fuel source.

(Moot point since they are backing out of the project, but I wonder if that's why they were / are planning to expand the Commerce City site. I find some reports online of this expansion; some think it might be a good thing since Suncor would be forced to use cleaner technology. )

Hopefully, the biofuels project will still go forward - the other company says it's going to look for a different partner (so it can use the pot of DOE money it was awarded for this project). Ethanol sure isn't a perfect solution, but anything that moves us away from oil, seems to me should be pursued.

Does anyone live near the refinery in Commerce City? I'm wondering if Suncor is still going to expand their operation there, and if so how that will affect the air quality both locally, and in the Denver metro area.

I don't live near it, but I drive by it on the way to work. There aren't many houses near the refinery - I doubt many people want to live near one. All I can say is that area really stinks! Between the refinery and the garbage dump across the freeway from it, the place is naaass- T. With a capital "T"!