Following the close of a 30-day public notice and review period, DEC has prepared a Proposed Final APDES/State Hybrid Individual Permit AK0055891 – Petro Star Inc. (PSI), Valdez Refinery (Permit) to authorize storm water discharges from the refinery to Abercrombie Creek under the authority of 18 AAC 83 – APDES Program and disposal of treated contact storm water and process wastewater to the subsurface under authority of 18 AAC 72 – Wastewater Disposal.

Prior to making the final decision to issue the permit, DEC invites you to view the Proposed Final Permit and associated documents. You can access the Proposed Final Permit and associated documents at the DEC Wastewater Discharge Authorization Program (WDAP) website (http://dec.alaska.gov/water/wastewater/) under the Notice of Review section.

Alaska DEC Contact:          
Gerry Brown
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
Division of Water/WDAP
555 Cordova St.
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 269-4874
Gerry.Brown@alaska.gov

Proposed Final Permit Review:

Start Date:      April 7, 2020
End Date:       April 14, 2020, 5:00 pm Alaska Daylight Time
Permit No.:    AK0055891
Applicant:      Petro Star Inc. Mile 2.5 Dayville Road, Valdez, Alaska 99686

Proposed Permit Coverage:
The refinery has been in operation since 1993 and is located on a 26-acre parcel at mile 2.5 of Dayville Road in Valdez, Alaska near Abercrombie Creek and Port Valdez. The refinery receives oil for the refinery from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and processes 60,000 barrels per day into jet fuel, marine diesel, heating fuel, turbine fuel and ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. In addition to fuel production, the facility operates a 12,000 bbl/d distillate hydro treater and associated processing units. Wastewater sources at refinery are categorized as Contact Storm Water commingled with Process Wastewater (CSW/PWW), and Noncontact Storm Water (storm water) as described below:

Disposal 001 – Contact Storm Water/Process Wastewater (CSW/PWW): The CSW/PWW Treatment system treats a combination of process water and contact storm water and disposes the effluent to an existing subsurface disposal field under the authority of 18 AAC 72 – Wastewater Disposal. The CSW/PWW treatment system will be commissioned and evaluated against the Proposed Final Permit over the upcoming summer prior to the permit being issued. The Proposed Final Permit requires effluent and groundwater monitoring based on batch analysis initially and transitions to continuous during the term of the permit.

Discharge 002 – Storm Water: The storm water system discharges noncontact storm water to Abercrombie Creek under the authority of 18 AAC 83 – Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (APDES) Program.

Determination:
DEC proposes to issue the above listed permit after commissioning.

 Public Comments:
Comments from the general public were accepted during the Public Notice period from October 17, 2019 through November 18, 2019 and will not be accepted during this review period.

 Deadline for Written Applicant Review Comments:
The deadline for proposed final permit review comments by the applicant is April 14, 2020, 5:00 pm Alaska Daylight Time.

Administrative Record:
The APDES/State Hybrid Proposed Final Permit, Fact Sheet and associated documents are available for public review at the DEC offices located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Wasilla, and Soldotna. Please contact the office of your choice to arrange for hard copies of the documents to be available for your review.

If you would like further information or to see any additional supporting technical documents, contact the permit writer at the address shown on page 1.

The documents are also accessible from the DEC website (http://dec.alaska.gov/water/wastewater/) under the Notice of Review section.

To receive email notifications about the APDES Program, including when permits are available to review, follow the link below to join the APDES email list. http://list.state.ak.us/mailman/listinfo/DEC-APDES/

Disability Reasonable Accommodation Notice:
The State of Alaska, DEC complies with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If you are a person with a disability who may need a special accommodation in order to participate in this public process, please contact Kate Orozco at (907) 465-8560 or TDD Relay Service 1-800-770-8973/TTY or dial 711 within five-days of publication of this notice to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.