Sunoco shuts Marcus Hook refinery

Sunoco has decided to shut down part of its Marcus Hook refinery. The future of about 50 workers remains uncertain.

Sunoco has decided to shut down part of its Marcus Hook refinery. The future of about 50 workers remains uncertain.

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[audio: 090707tmsunoco.mp3]

Equipment used in the manufacture of Ethylene and related products was damaged as a result of a May fire at the refinery. According to a company statement, the decision means Sunoco will give up production of ethylene. Jerry Dugan is Vice President of the union representing the workers. He’s hopeful the displaced employees will find other jobs at the plant.

Dugan: They are definately jobs that we can utilize, especially in the maintenance department we don’t specialize in one unit, we go through the entire plant. They can go through other parts of the plant, different unit. We had a feeling, the company told us in negotiation they were thinking about shutting Ethylene down

Sunoco officials denied requests for a taped interview but did say they were negotiating with the union to determine the future of the displaced workers.