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A Philly refinery will repay the city for emergency response costs from last year’s fire and explosion

The city's Fire Department had deployed more than 120 firefighters and about 50 pieces of equipment to respond to the refinery fire last summer.

A staging area under the George C. Platt bridge near the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery on June 21, 2019, after a massive explosion shut down the facility. It has not reopened, and is undergoing a sale supervised by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
A staging area under the George C. Platt bridge near the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery on June 21, 2019, after a massive explosion shut down the facility. It has not reopened, and is undergoing a sale supervised by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
    by Andrew Maykuth
    Updated 
    Published 

Bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions says it will reimburse the city $1.8 million for the costs of emergency response last year after the South Philadelphia refining complex suffered a massive fire and explosion that led to its permanent closure.

Mark J. Smith, the refinery’s chief executive officer, said the company’s insurance carriers notified PES that they will reimburse the costs of the city’s response. The payment would require the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington.

“The bankruptcy process is complex and we are diligently working the required steps to allow the payment to the city,” Smith said in an email Friday.

The city on Monday filed a motion with the bankruptcy court seeking payment from PES for $1.1 million, one of two invoices it sent to the refinery for emergency response. The Fire Department deployed more than 120 firefighters and more than 50 pieces of equipment to respond to the refinery fire on June 21, and hazardous materials crews remained on the site until Sept. 24, when the city formally declared the incident under control.

PES shut down the complex, the largest refinery on the East Coast, and declared bankruptcy following the fire. Much of the 1,100 workforce was let go. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in February approved the sale of the refinery complex to Hilco Redevelopment Partners LP of Chicago. The $252 million sale is set for closure in May.