Lynn Elsenhans is pulling a fast one on Marcus Hook and the workers at the sprawling Sunoco refinery there.
Literally.
Elsenhans is the CEO at Sunoco who has been on a cost-cutting mission since she took control of the company founded by the Pew family and with roots in Marcus Hook that go back more than a century.
Wearing the bull'seye has been the company's struggling refinery operations. She's shut down one plant after another.
So it was no surprise back in October when she said the company would seek a buyer for its Marcus Hook and South Philly facilities - and shut them down if no one stepped forward. She set a timetable that would keep the refinery open until next summer.
What was a surprise was yesterday's announcement that instead the company would begin idling the Hook plant today; almost 500 workers will likely be laid off in 90 days.
Merry Christmas.
You can read the full story here.
No one should be surprised by the move. Elsenhans is married to the bottom line, not the workers and their families in the lower end of Delaware County.
She explained in a statement that the refining business was declining even faster than anticipated, thus the move to idle the plant was being moved up.
"Market conditions have deteriorated significantly, and the outlook for both motor fuel demand and refining margins remains weak," she said in the statement. And just like that a way of life in the Hook was pushed to the edge of the abyss.
Not exactly a holiday greeting.
There remains hope that a buyer can be found.
But U.S. Reps. Bob Brady and Delco's Pat Meehan summed up the devastation left in the wake of the company'sdecision.
"Devastating."
The congressmen vowed to continue their efforts to keep all three facilities open.
"For our community, closing the gates of the Marcus Hook refinery is unthinkable," Brady and Meehan said in a statement. "Most of us know a friend or family member that works at our local refineries, and it has been this way for generations."
That's something that Elsenhans, who pulled in an annual salary of more than $11 million last year, will never understand.
For her it's all about the bottom line.
For Marcus Hook and generations of workers who looked at the sprawling refinery, it was the gateway to a solid, middle-class life.
Yesterday that landscape got altered forever.
If a buyer can't be found, the gates will be closed.
The Sun will finally set on Marcus Hook.
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