Delaware

Delaware City Refinery continues toxic chemical release. Here’s what we know

Published

9 months ago

June 1, 2025

The Delaware City Refinery has been continuously releasing more than permitted amounts of toxic sulfur dioxide into the air for a week now, yet there are still more questions than answers.

Here’s what we know.

What is the Delaware City Refinery?

The Delaware City Refinery is located on 5,000 acres just north of Delaware City, along the Delaware River, with a New Castle address.

It’s owned by PBF Energy, “one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and suppliers of unbranded transportation fuels, heating oil, petrochemical feedstocks, lubricants and other petroleum products in the United States,” according to the company’s website.

The Delaware City Refinery is “one of the largest and most complex refineries on the East Coast,” the website says, and can process up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day.

Historically, the Delaware City Refinery has been the state’s biggest polluter, frequently cited for air pollution violations. In October 2024, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control found that the refinery had deviated from its permit standards nine times between September 2022 and August 2023 and fined the refinery $75,000.

More than 86,000 people live within a 5-mile radius of the refinery, over half of whom are people of color and 20% of whom are lower-income, according to EPA data. Due to concerns with diversity, equity and inclusion, earlier this year, the EPA canceled a $500,000 grant that would have allowed the nonprofit Clean Air Council to monitor air pollution in the area of the refinery.

What is sulfur dioxide?

Sulfur dioxide is a gas composed of sulfur and oxygen. It forms when fuel such as oil, like at the Delaware City Refinery, is burned.

Sulfur dioxide can make it hard to breathe and harm the human respiratory system, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It can also harm animals and plants.

Delaware Environmental Release Notification System, which reports on the Delaware City Refinery releases, says sulfur dioxide “may cause death or permanent injury after very short exposure to small quantities.”

Signs of acute sulfur dioxide exposure include symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, fatigue, chest discomfort, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and cyanosis, the reports say. People with asthma, subnormal pulmonary functions or cardiovascular disease are at a greater risk than others.

The fossil fuel industry is the largest contributor of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, according to the EPA. Refineries like the Delaware City Refinery are typically allowed to emit certain amounts of pollutants into the air and water through state and federal permits.

How much sulfur dioxide has been released in this incident and how much is unsafe?

The release of sulfur dioxide is ongoing and will continue “until the repairs are made,” a May 31 Delaware Environmental Release Notification System report says.

The refinery’s air quality permit doesn’t appear to be available online, so how much sulfur dioxide the company is normally permitted to release is unknown.

According to reports publicly posted on the Delaware Environmental Release Notification System website, the following amounts of sulfur dioxide were released by the Delaware City Refinery since May 25.

11:30 p.m., May 25: “over 100 pounds”
12:01 a.m., May 26: “greater than 500 pounds”
9:55 a.m., May 28: 500 pounds per hour
11:16 a.m., May 29: 1,450 pounds per hour
10:05 a.m., May 30: 1,450 pounds per hour
9 p.m., May 31: “greater than 500 pounds”

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control issued a news release related to these incidents on May 31. It noted information from an air monitoring station east of the refinery on Route 9, but didn’t state the direction in which the wind was blowing at the time the information was recorded.

The “health standard” for sulfur dioxide, according to the news release, is 75 parts per billion. The highest hourly measurement during “this incident” was 25 parts per billion for 6 a.m. on May 31, the release said. The highest-recorded daily average sulfur dioxide level was 2.5 parts per billion on May 26. When the news release was issued on May 31, the average was 7.33 parts per billion.

Since the news release was issued, more data has become available on the department’s Air Quality Monitoring Network website. It shows a new highest hourly measurement of 29 parts per billion at midnight on June 1.

What is causing the release?

Some DERNS reports cite “a boiler failure.”

DNREC and PBF representatives did not immediately respond to questions.

Why haven’t nearby citizens been notified?

DERNS sends out notifications of chemical releases, but only to people who have signed up.

DNREC spokesman Michael Globetti said concerning a past chemical release that DERNS is “not intended to be an emergency notification system, but rather a system to allow citizens to stay informed.”

The Department of Emergency Management Agency has sent out notifications of past chemical releases, but Director A.J. Schall said they haven’t sent out any releases related to the current refinery incident.

Why hasn’t the refinery shut down operations?

It’s unknown. DNREC and PDF representatives did not immediately respond to questions.

Molly McVety contributed to this story. Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Facebook.

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Delaware

Spike in utility bills after cold snap forces Delaware customers to make tough choices

Published

5 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Spike in utility bills after cold snap forces Delaware customers to make tough choices

Delaware elected officials push back on rising prices

Gov. Matt Meyer called out Delmarva for “overcharging Delaware families” in his January State of the State speech. He has also urged the Public Service Commission to reject the utility’s rate requests.

“Rate increases far beyond inflation are unacceptable,” he said. “Delmarva’s out-of-state shareholders should not take advantage of Delaware’s families working to make ends meet. We must hold monopolies accountable.”

Democratic members of the Delaware General Assembly also sent a letter in February to the commission, calling for Delmarva to resubmit its December rate increase request so it falls under a law that took effect in January that gives the commission greater scrutiny over rate increase requests.

The state lawmakers also noted that Delmarva has sought three electric base rate adjustments over the past five years and asked the commission to reject the current rate case so the company would have to resubmit the request.

“We cannot reward Delmarva investors with such high returns on the backs of our constituents,” the letter stated.

Beal said they appreciate the governors in the states that use the PJM grid focusing on the supply costs and the need for more generation, which he said was the true driver of these significant increases for customers. He argued that they work on the delivery side to keep costs down.

“Our company’s been around since 1909,” he said. “Not all of our equipment is that old, but we certainly have some aging equipment. Over 50-year-old transformers that are really at the end of their life, and you want to make sure that you’re replacing this equipment in a planned manner, versus a catastrophic failure of equipment.”

Assistance programs to help low- and moderate-income households

Wilmington resident Alan Shores said he has tried to apply for help as his average monthly bill has gone from around $200 a month to about $500. Shores depends on monthly disability payments and said he’s struggling to afford his prescription medication because of the rising cost.

“I’m tap dancing as fast as I can, trying to pay this stuff, and I just can’t,” he said. “It’s because of this electric bill. Once that electric bill went through the roof, I’m like, ‘What do I do?’”

Beal said they are adding $500,000 to the $6.5 million customer relief fund created last year. Past-due gas and electric customers who have a household income between 60% of the state median income and 350% of the federal poverty level could be eligible for a $500 credit.

The utility also offers payment arrangements and budget billing, and it directs customers to financial assistance offered by charitable organizations.

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Delaware

Delaware gas prices soar nearly 50 cents per gallon in a month: AAA

Published

17 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Delaware gas prices soar nearly 50 cents per gallon in a month: AAA

A conflict on the other side of the world is hitting your wallet in Delaware.

Prices for gasoline have soared since the start of a war involving the U.S., Israel and Iran that began on Feb. 28. The national average gas price is $3.45 per gallon for regular, according to automotive, travel and insurance company AAA. It was $2.89 per gallon one month ago.

Delaware’s average price is lower than the national average at $3.36 per gallon, a steep hike from $2.88 per gallon a month ago, according to AAA data.

Delaware is small so average prices for regular gasoline are pretty stable from county to county. Sussex and Kent Counties sit at $3.37 per gallon and New Castle County is at $3.35 per gallon.

The current average prices per gallon, according to AAA, are:

Regular: $3.365, up from $2.886 one month ago
Mid-Grade: $3.916, up from $3.487 one month ago
Premium: $4.191, up from $3.785 one month ago
Diesel: $4.545, up from $3.856 one month ago

In a March 5 press release, AAA said there is usually a jump in prices in the spring, but the last time prices rose this sharply was in March 2022 when the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out.

Shane Brennan covers Wilmington and other Delaware issues. Reach out with ideas, tips or feedback at slbrennan@delawareonline.com.

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Delaware

Delaware hoops loss worst in decades but Ingelsby has faith in future

Published

2 days ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Delaware hoops loss worst in decades but Ingelsby has faith in future

Historical calamities notwithstanding, what occurred inside the Carpenter Center in the early afternoon of March 7 should not be the total measure of the Blue Hens.

Certainly, an unsightly 81-38 basketball loss to Louisiana Tech was in some ways emblematic of Delaware’s 2025-26 basketball season, during which it endured unprecedented misfortune.

But the Blue Hens also frequently rose above their hardships, and even periodically excelled despite them.

First-year Conference USA member Delaware needed to win its game against Louisiana Tech, plus have Florida International and New Mexico State lose theirs later to make the CUSA Tournament, which includes just the top 10 of the 12 league schools.

As that final score hints, it turned into a failure of epic proportion for Delaware, which finishes the season in last place.

The 38 points Delaware scored were its fewest in a game in more than 61 years, since a 77-34 setback against Penn at the Palestra Dec. 9, 1964.

Delaware had scored fewer than 40 points just twice since, in a 46-39 defeat at Rider Feb. 19, 1983, and a 60-39 loss at VCU Jan. 16, 2008.

Ingelsby determined to improve situation

The Blue Hens played their fifth straight game with just six of the 13 scholarship players with whom they began the season, including two freshmen. They’d played the nine games before that with seven.

It caught up with them.

So they’re stuck with their 10-21 record, making these Delaware’s first back-to-back 20-loss seasons since it went 10-20 in 2014-15 and 7-23 in 2015-16 under former coach Monte Ross and 13-20 in Martin Ingelsby’s first UD season in 2016-17.

But the final showing was not representative of who’d they recently been. Delaware was coming off an 83-80 victory over Sam Houston State, which will be the league tournament’s second seed.

They’d also won four of eight before Saturday, which followed a near home upset of regular-season champion Liberty and included an excruciating overtime home loss to Western Kentucky in which the Hens trailed only in the opening seconds of the game and the final moments of OT.

“We’ve dealt with a lot this year,” Ingelsby said. “Obviously, the injuries, adversity, clarity on our roster.

“I’m a competitive dude. So it doesn’t sit well with me. You’re not happy with how overall this season went, obviously going into the league and trying to figure it out.”

Critical offseason looms

In the end, too many players playing too many minutes was part of those struggles. Christian Bliss was first nationally, Justyn Fernandez was fifth and Macon Emory eighth in minutes per game entering Saturday

But those three, in particular, showed how good they are, which is why Delaware won as much as it did. Same with Tyler Houser, though the knee injury he sustained in that WKU game could sideline him all next year.

So Delaware has several very good players. It just needs to retain those it has, such as the aforementioned group, and get more.

That is, of course, easier said than done. But it will be up to Ingelsby, whose contract extends through the 2028-29 season, and his staff to ensure it does, when the transfer portal opens after the Final Four.

“I’m optimistic,” Ingelsby said. “I think we were damn close this year with being dealt a tough hand with all the injuries. We put a good team together but never got a sense to see that team kind of play and grow and learn through the ups and downs of the season.

“But I’m confident that the right players, the right coaching staff, the right support, which we’re getting, that we can be very good in this league.”

“I’ll thank them forever”

Houston Emory, feted in Senior Day ceremonies Saturday, is the only one of Delaware’s remaining 12 scholarship players after Nnanna Njoku’s departure who has completed his eligibility. What a modern-day oddity he is, having spent his entire career at one school.

Delaware has signed one incoming freshman, Jafet Valencia, a 6-7, 200-pound guard from Leesburg, Virginia, and Evergreen Christian School. Ingelsby said he’ll likely be the only one.

“Today was not a semblance of what this team was able to do and how they competed for Delaware men’s basketball,” Ingelsby said, “the University of Delaware, with as tough of a hand as I’ve experienced in my 20-plus years in college basketball.

“We got six scholarship guys out there, two freshmen. Those guys that were there every day, I’ll thank them forever for everything that they gave this program.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

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