Sen. Carper Statement on Delaware City Refinery Announcement

WILMINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement in response to the announcement that PBF’s Board of Directors conditionally approved the construction of a $1 billion project consisting of a mild hydrocracker and hydrogen plant which will be built at its Delaware City Refinery:

“Today’s announcement that PBF has approved a $1 billion project that will bring with it jobs is exciting news and proof that good things do happen when you never give up. Only a few years ago, Delaware had to absorb a terrible series of body blows to its economy – first with the closing of the Chrysler plant and then in 2009, Valero announced that it was shutting down its refinery in Delaware City. Altogether, we lost thousands of excellent manufacturing jobs and several times that number as the closures rippled through our state. When faced with adversity, the leadership in Delaware saw an opportunity. I worked with the Governor’s team, the other members of the congressional delegation and community leaders to make sure this plant could find a buyer when we were told that we should give up trying. We never gave up, and ultimately, we were successful in finding a buyer with PBF, which brought back life to this refinery.”

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