A dispute continues between Flint Hills Resources and the state regarding treatment of water polluted with sulfolane at the company's North Pole refinery in Interior Alaska.
In a public notice posted Thursday, Flint Hills contested the state Department of Environmental Conservation's decision to not revisit the pollution standard for the chemical sulfolane and asked for a review by the department's commissioner.
At the heart of the dispute is the level of sulfolane allowed in treated water at the North Pole refinery. The Alaska DEC has set the standard at 14 parts per billion, pending a long-term toxicology study.
In June, the DEC said it would not set a standard until long-term toxicology test results come back. There are multiple short-term exposure studies that indicate safe exposure levels, but "we don't know about long-term," said Kristin Ryan, the director of the DEC's Division of Spill Prevention and Response.
That data won't be back -- at the earliest -- until 2017. "We're being cautious and we want to wait," Ryan said.
Flint Hills wants the standard set at 362 parts per billion. The company contends that studies have already shown that to be a safe level of exposure for the chemical.
"The delay won't produce anything significantly different," said Jeff Cook, a consultant with Koch Companies Public Sector. Flint Hills is a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
In October 2014, the state and company reached an agreement that the company would treat water at the 14 parts-per-billion standard. That agreement was based on the idea that the DEC would revisit the standard, said Cook.
Flint Hills contends that the DEC should set a standard without the delay.
The dispute is only one part of a series of ongoing battles between Flint Hills and the state. The state, Flint Hills and former owner Williams are in court over who is responsible for off-site cleanup costs.
Pollution stretching more than 3 miles in a groundwater plume reaches over 300 homes that use well water. The plume is still moving, Ryan said. "The assumption is that more homes will be impacted in the future," she said.
In the meantime, Flint Hills is providing drinking water to the affected residents, about 1,500 people.
For the on-site property cleanup, DEC commissioner Larry Hartig will review each side's case and decide whether to grant or deny a hearing, or whether to send it back to the DEC to make a change to its decision, said Gary Mendivil, environmental program specialist with the DEC.
While the refinery is no longer processing fuel, having shut down in 2014, it is still being used as an oil shipment terminal.