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The Suncor Energy refinery in Commerce City spilled excessive amounts of inorganic nitrogen into Sand Creek on Friday and Tuesday.
The total inorganic nitrogen level was 12 milligrams per liter on May 31 and 14 milligrams per liter on Monday. The refinery is allowed to discharge up to 10 milligrams per liter daily under its federal water permit, according to a public notification sent by Suncor on Monday night.
The cause of the spill is under investigation, the alert stated. Testing is ongoing, and the notification did not say whether cleanup efforts were necessary.
Inorganic nitrogen take the forms of nitrate, nitrite, ammonia or nitrogen dioxide, but the notification did not specify which form was released. It could be toxic to fish and other aquatic life.
Sand Creek feeds into the Platte River, which is a source of drinking water for people in the northern Front Range and farmers use it to irrigate crops and for livestock.
The refinery sent a public alert about the spill on Monday evening. It was the first alert sent under the terms of it latest water permit.
Suncor has issued alerts about excess air pollution for several years but the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment required the company to start sending similar notifications about water pollution when it approved its latest permit in March.
The public can sign up for notifications in English or Spanish on Suncor’s website: https://www.suncor.com/en-ca/what-we-do/refining/commerce-city-refinery/notifications.
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