An attempt by Flint Hills Resources Alaska to pursue damages over a solvent spill against a previous owner of the North Pole refinery remained alive on Friday, thanks to a ruling from the state's highest court.
In a decision announced Friday, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld portions of a decision in Fairbanks Superior Court, including that Flint Hills had waited too long before bringing claims against Williams Alaska Petroleum for groundwater pollution located at the refinery.
But the Supreme Court reversed the ruling on damages regarding pollution that had spread offsite, saying Flint Hills' claim, filed in 2010, was not submitted too late. The Supreme Court sent the case back to Fairbanks Superior Court for further proceedings.
"We are still studying the opinion but overall we are pleased with the decision of the Alaska Supreme Court," said Jeff Cook, public affairs consultant for Flint Hills Resources and its owner, Koch Industries of Wichita, Kansas. "We look forward to our day in court when these and other claims can be resolved."
He said he could not answer additional questions.
Flint Hills purchased the refinery from Williams Alaska Petroleum in 2004. The companies knew that the solvent, sulfolane, existed in the refinery's groundwater at the time of the purchase, according to the decision.
But the full reach of the underground plume wasn't known, though it had spread beyond the boundaries of the refinery and affected many properties. Because of the spill, Flint Hills is supplying drinking water to about 1,500 people, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Sulfolane is used by refineries to strip gasoline components from crude oil, and its long-term health risk to humans isn't known. When Williams discovered the sulfolane in groundwater in 2001, it wasn't even a regulated chemical as it is today. Immediately after Flint Hills' purchase, DEC notified Flint Hills the sulfolane would be regulated.
Flint Hills shuttered operations at the refinery in 2014, in part blaming clean-up costs that had run into the tens of millions of dollars.