An underground plume of toxic petrochemicals spreading from Suncor Energy’s oil refinery in Commerce City is complicating a $211 million upgrade at the adjacent Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant — work that must be completed on schedule to meet water-quality requirements.
COMMERCE CITY — State-ordered remedies have not stopped toxic pollution from Suncor Energy’s oil refinery north of Denver — with new data showing benzene levels in Sand Creek and the South Platte River more than doubling last month.
Neither state regulators nor Suncor has calculated how much cancer-causing benzene and other contaminants have entered the waterways from an underground plume spreading from the refinery under the adjacent Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant.
A journalist and lawyer, Bruce Finley has investigated local, national and international issues with on-site reporting in more than 40 countries. In his position as a staff writer for the Denver Post, he is focusing on environment-related news including water challenges, the oil and gas boom and wildfire.
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