Philadelphia Energy Solutions To 'Sell And Restart' Refinery

PHILADELPHIA —The Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia will close and be sold after an explosion and fire occurred last week, according to officials.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said Wednesday morning that PES confirmed plans to close the plant. Gov. Tom Wolf also confirmed the impending closure, calling it "devastating news for these workers and their families."

Additionally, PES CEO Mark Smith said the company is planning to close the plant, and sell it for a "restart." What the restart means is unclear at this time.

The confirmation comes on the heels of a Reuters report that said the plant would close.

Kenney said the refinery is set to close within the next month.

"I spoke with the CEO and leadership of Philadelphia Energy Solutions this morning and can confirm that PES intends to shut down the refinery within the next month," he said.

According to Reuters, about 700 union workers are expected to be laid off with the closure.

"I’m extremely disappointed for the more than one thousand workers who will be immediately impacted by this closure, as well as other businesses that are dependent on the refinery operations," he said. "The City is committed to supporting them during this difficult time in any way possible. We will immediately convene a group of City and quasi-governmental organizations to discuss the economic and employment impacts, and what the City is able to do in response."

Wolf said the Labor & Industry Department's Rapid Response Coordination Services will offer potentially affected workers information and services needed to return to the workforce.

"The Rapid Response unit provides workers who are facing a layoff with information on retraining, continuing education, job-seeking, health insurance and unemployment benefits to help them transition to re-employment," Wolf said. "All services are offered at no cost to the employees or the company. My administration will work to identify new opportunities for the affected employees, or to determine a plan for them to return to their current positions as soon as economically feasible."

In addition to job impacts, the closure could affect gas availability and pricing.

It's unclear what will happen with the refinery site once it's closed, but Kenney said the city will work to determine what is to be done with the Passyunk Avenue site.

"We are also retooling the plans of the working group led by the City’s Managing Director and Fire Commissioner to focus efforts on determining the future of the refinery, assisting PES to transition the site safely, communicating with local residents, and supporting the employees impacted PES’ decision," Kenney said.

The news comes on the heels of local, state, and federal investigators saying the investigation into the explosion and fire could take months, even years, to complete and find out what exactly happened at the refinery.

It all began at about 4 a.m. on Friday, June 21 when a butane-propane mixture vat exploded and caused fires at the facility.

The fire was out by Saturday afternoon.

Only five people suffered minor injuries, none of which needed hospitalization, as a result of the incident.

Reuters reports some staff members will remain employed until the investigation is over.