One more time that our Governor, Jack Markell, has come through for the people of Delaware. Governor Markell and his administration facilitated an agreement to reopen the Valero Delaware City refinery under new ownership, bring 600 new jobs to Delaware and cutting pollution significantly at the same time. The news is so good that even David Anderson is calling it a “significant victory” for the Governor.
Five months after the Valero Corporation announced it was permanently shutting down the Delaware City Refinery, PBF Energy Partners, LP has entered into an agreement with Valero to acquire the refinery and restart refining operations as early as spring 2011. Since the closure announcement, Delaware Governor Jack Markell has sought a buyer/operator for the plant and eventually helped facilitate the negotiations between PBF and Valero. At the same time, Governor Markell and his team negotiated with PBF to bring 600 full-time jobs to Delaware, in exchange for certain economic development incentives, should PBF acquire and operate the refinery.
“We want to get people back to work in a way that is responsible, sustainable and protects public health. While there are still specifics to be resolved, today’s announcement is a very significant step forward.” Markell said. “Over the past several months, we have worked hard to save the many hundreds of good-paying jobs at this facility and the related economic contributions to our state’s economy. We are hopeful our efforts will be successful.”
Valero offered the state some early help by agreeing to the Governor’s request for the company to stop dismantling efforts on-site and keep much of the refinery intact so the state could make a more compelling case to potential buyers. The state agreed to work with PBF after PBF pledged to operate the refinery and make substantial investments in the refinery’s infrastructure. Those investments should allow the company to meet its agreement with the state, which requires that it will keep annual emissions of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) more than 300 tons below 2007 levels and reduce those emissions further by 300 tons starting at the end of 2013 and an additional 575 total tons beginning at the end of 2014. These reductions represent more than an 1100 ton reduction compared to 2007 levels or more than 40%.