Lucy Molina in front of Suncor's Commerce City refinery in Colorado. Molina's child's school went into lockdown after a problem at the refinery caused it to rain down a yellow, clay-like ash in December 2019. Suncor responded by offering free car washes. Photo courtesy of Molina
Tipping Point covers environmental justice stories about and, where possible, written by people in the communities experiencing the stark reality of our changing planet.
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It’s risk factors like these that caused Molina to prepare her children for the worst. They may need to drive her to get medical help some day, she said, because when her dizziness becomes intense it’s hard for her to get behind the wheel. “These are the plans that we make,” Molina told VICE News. “When other communities are planning their summer, their vacation to Hawaii or Mexico, our kids are planning how to take care of their parents in case they get sick.”Molina was one of more than 150 residents of the metro Denver region who took part in public hearings this month over whether a key air permit for the refinery, which is owned by the Canadian oil company Suncor, should be renewed. If the state health and environment officials deny the permit in the weeks or months ahead, opponents say, it could eventually lead to the shutdown of an oil processing facility that exceeded pollution limits for hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide 15 times between March 27 and April 22 alone, according to a review of state data conducted by the Denver Post. “The Denver Post statement is accurate,” a Suncor spokesperson told VICE News.The Suncor refinery is also one of the state’s largest sources of greenhouse gases, releasing 949,971 tons of atmosphere-altering emissions in 2019, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.“When other communities are planning their summer, our kids are planning how to take care of their parents in case they get sick.”
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