It’s been referred to as the “Miracle in Trainer.”
And the “Miracle in South Philly.”
We’re talking about refineries.
In case you missed it, refineries have been in the news here in Delaware County the past year.
This all started last September when Sunoco announced they were getting out of the refining business. They indicated they would put their refineries in Marcus Hook and South Philadelphia on the block. If no buyers came forward, they would be shut down.
Two weeks later Conoco-Phillips said exactly the same thing about their refinery in Trainer.
It was an economic haymaker, a 1-2 punch to the gut that threatened a way of life for a lot of people here in Marcus Hook and the lower end of the county.
But today something almost beyond belief is happening.
Workers are streaming into that very same Trainer refinery. It’s now being run by a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, which bought the facility from Conoco.
In South Philly, a deal brokered between Sunoco and the Carlyle Group will keep that facility open for years to come under a joint operating agreement.
And in Marcus Hook, while no buyer has come forward for the iconic Sunoco refinery, next-door neighbor Braskem America recently announced they were purchasing a portion of the site, which will guarantee the future of their workers, and also open up the possibility of new jobs.
Tonight, our ‘Live From the Newsroom’ live-stream Internet broadcast will revisit the issue of the refineries, just how important they are to the county, and how these deals came about.
And we’ll get it from the men who were at the table hammering out these deals.
We’ll be joined by Jim Savage, head of Local 10-1 of the United Steelworkers, representing workers at the South Philly Sunoco plant. A lot of those workers live here in Delco, as does Savage.
Also joining us will be Denis Stephano, the head of United Steelworkers Local 10-324, representing the no-doubt ebullient workers at what is now a refinery being operated by Delta subsidiary Monroe Energy. That’s the former Conoco site.
We’ll review the whirlwind of the last 10 months, and how they saved a way of life in the lower end of Delaware County and South Philly.
We’ll also get the latest on the efforts to revitalize the Sunoco refinery from Dave Miller, president of United Steelworkers Local 10-901, who represents workers at Marcus Hook. We’ll talk about the future of the iconic plant, which now seems almost certainly to be something outside refining.
I have lots of questions, but I also want you to be part of the conversation. If you have something you’d like me to ask our panel, email me at editor@delcotimes.com.
Log on to DelcoTimes.com tonight at 7 and take part in our live chat. Or just come out to the union hall in Linwood, where we’ll be broadcasting live.
Do you believe in miracles? Yes!
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