IMPORTANT COMMENTS FROM THE CLEAN AIR COUNCIL:  If you are concerned about air and water pollution from the Monroe Refinery in Trainer, PA, now is the time to make your voice heard!

This public hearing is focused on whether the Monroe Refinery uses “reasonable” pollution control technologies at its facility, which the EPA currently considers to be in “High Priority Violation” of the Clean Air Act. Monroe also consistently receives Clean Water Act violations regarding high levels of water pollution released from the facility into the Delaware River. Public hearings on “Reasonably Available Control Technology” (RACT) determinations are required because Delaware County and the entire 5-county Southeast Pennsylvania area fail EPA standards for asthma-worsening ground-level ozone (smog) pollution.

You may recall that DEP held a similar hearing regarding the Monroe Refinery in January 2025. At that hearing, Clean Air Council demanded that Monroe use the “Best Available Control Technology” (BACT), given that Trainer and surrounding areas are situated in an already overburdened environmental justice area. Clean Air Council also suggested DEP provide information about Monroe’s required leak inspections in order to reduce potentially carcinogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) pollution that also contributes to smog formation. DEP has now been required to hold a second RACT hearing to further certify that Monroe “reasonably” controls VOC pollution from its wastewater system, which filters oil and other pollutants out of the water Monroe discharges to the Delaware River. Monroe’s wastewater system is a large source of pollution because petroleum and chemicals used in oil refining produce dangerous gases when vented to the atmosphere, and those gases are not removed in the wastewater filtration process. Unfortunately, Monroe does not use air monitoring technology to monitor air pollution from its wastewater system and relies on computer modeling for pollution estimates.

You can demand that DEP require Monroe to actually monitor air pollution from Monroe’s wastewater system and demand the “Best Available Control Technology” (BACT) at the December 1 public hearing. Email RA-EPOEJ@pa.gov to register. Despite what the public posting states, residents CAN register after Monday, November 24th. We encourage residents to register to give comments as soon as possible, and any time up until the hearing. We also encourage residents to attend the hearing who have not signed up to speak.

You can also click here to submit an official written comment to DEP about Monroe’s pollution and need for better controls. Written comments are due December 11th.

We encourage all concerned residents to attend the public hearing on Monday December 1st, 6 PM, at Trainer Borough Municipal Building, 4300 Township Line Road, Trainer, PA 19061. Residents of Trainer borough and surrounding areas deserve clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment!