Residents want harsher penalties for the Delaware City Refinery

More than 86,000 people live within a 5-mile radius of the refinery, more than half of whom are people of color, and 20% live in low-income households, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data.

George X has lived 2 miles from the refinery for decades, and is worried about health concerns reported by his neighbors over the years.

“We talked about a lot of things this evening, but they didn’t talk about when they’re going to stop the pollution,” he said. “We already know we’re being poisoned. We just want to know when you’re gonna stop.”

Residents and environmentalists for years have urged DNREC to direct harsher penalties on the refinery.

The refinery has historically been one of the region’s top polluters — releasing more than 4.6 million pounds of pollutants in 2023, according to EPA data.

The facility also has a history of violations, including three in just the past year.

In 2019, the refinery paid DNREC $950,000 to resolve a backlog of air quality violations. That same year, a fire that led to mechanical failures caused the emission of more than 842 pounds of hydrocarbons, 592 pounds of sulfur dioxide, 438 pounds of carbon monoxide, 80 pounds of nitrogen oxides and 4,300 pounds of sulfur dioxide, as well as an additional 4,300 pounds of sulfur dioxide from flaring.

According to the National Emissions Inventory, the refinery released more than 430,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide in 2020.

However, a spokesperson for the refinery said that since PBF acquired the facility from Valero Energy in 2010, there has been about an 83% reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions since 2022 compared to the last three years that Valero owned and operated it.

On Thursday, General Manager Michael Capone said he was regretful about the mechanical failure and aftermath, and promised to better communicate with the public in the future.

“We are working this thing around the clock to make sure that we get the unit complete, the work complete and the unit back online as quickly as possible,” he said.

“I want to assure all of the residents that we take each and every incident seriously. We do a detailed root cause … analysis to understand what that issue was and then we work to understand how to apply those learnings.”

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This spring, her students created puppets tied to their English-language arts unit on global water issues.

“The current unit for ELA is to read about problems related to water around the world. They learned about problems with people not having enough water, problems with people not being able to get to water and having to walk really far, and then also water pollution,” she said. “And we focus mainly on water pollution … because in Wilmington, pollution, like on the streets, is a problem and it is something that the students can relate to.”

The curriculum encouraged students to create a video public service announcement — but Salisbury saw an opportunity to take it further.

“We decided that the video itself is already sort of adding a little artistic element, but creating the puppet as well will add sort of another aspect to it,” she said. “We sort of brainstormed all these different questions that we might ask a scientist or someone who lives by water, or even if we could talk to an animal that lives in the water, what could we ask them about water pollution and its effects?”

Through this approach, students brought to life characters ranging from scientists to river otters affected by pollution. As they brainstormed, designed and sewed their puppets, they merged science, language and art into one unified project.

The impact was especially noticeable with students who arrived midyear.

“Even like this year, I had two students come sort of in the middle of fall … There’s one in particular, she really blossomed into being very artistic,” Salisbury said. “She’s made a ton of growth in reading this year, and writing as well, which is super exciting. And I remember right before winter break she even said to me … ‘Thank you so much for all that you’ve taught me. Like, my old school… I didn’t learn like this. I didn’t understand anything.’”

Salisbury believes immersing into the arts gives students more control over their learning — especially during a season that can be overwhelming.

“Opening myself up to adding arts in … helps to make things seem a little less serious and … adds a little more fun and joy into what we’re doing,” she added.