Philadelphia Refinery

An oil refinery was first originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1860's. It was operated for many years by the Atlantic Refining and Marketing Company, and was purchased by Sunoco, Inc. in 1988. This plant was right next to a second refinery that was run by Chevron, but in 1994 Sunoco made a deal and bought that plant as well. The two facilities were combined into one large plant, which is still owned and operated by Sunoco.

The refinery suffered a major tragedy in in August of 1975 when a fire was ignited within a storage tank that held up to 80,000 barrels of oil as it was receiving oil from a tanker ship. As the fire began, the tanker was able to get away without damage. Fire crews were called in to fight the blaze, and seemed to quickly have it under control. Unfortunately, however, oil that was thought to have been drained from the tank had actually backed up, and led to a large explosion which took the lives of three fire fighters. More than 13 others were injured in the unexpected flash of fire, and over the next few days more lives were lost due to the serious injuries they had received. It took fire fighters the rest of the night to bring the blaze completely under control.

That fire was the worst single incident the plant endured, but it was not the only life threatening situation in the refinery's history. Another black mark on the facility came from the presence of asbestos on the premises. Although asbestos was at one time commonly used in many products, it is actually a toxic substance that can cause great damage to the respiratory system and even lead to a form of cancer called mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is often a fatal disease and anyone who has been exposed to products made from asbestos should contact their personal doctor right away.

In 2007 the Philadelphia underwent another serious explosion. This time the fault was in a welding torch that ignited a large explosion. Three people were injured in the blast, and the resulting fire took over an hour to dissipate. Work continued as normal following the event, and aside from the injured parties, no one was evacuated.

Sunoco's Philadelphia refinery continues to operate at full capacity. The plant has more than 900 full time workers, and has the capability of producing up to 330,000 barrels of crude oil on a daily basis.

Last modified: September 16 2008.

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