A large plume of smoke rises from a flare tower at the Suncor Energy oil refinery in Commerce City, seen from Denver on Monday. Thick black smoke and yellow smoke plumes are billowing Monday afternoon from two smokestacks at the Suncor Energy refinery in Commerce City.
A large plume of smoke rises from a flare tower at the Suncor Energy oil refinery in Commerce City , seen from Denver on Monday, May 11, 2026.
Thick black smoke and yellow smoke plumes are billowing Monday afternoon from two smokestacks at the Suncor Energy refinery in Commerce City. Suncor issued a community notification at 1:06 p.m. to report “increased smoke and flaring may be visible at Commerce City operations. ” The notification said no emergency action is necessary.
Multiple people in Commerce City sent pictures and video to The Denver Post that showed the black and yellow plumes billowing from the refinery’s smokestacks. Steve O’Dorisio, an Adams County commissioner who lives near the refinery, said he was taking pictures and videos of the black smoke andO’Dorisio has demanded for years more accountability for Suncor and its repeated air pollution violations.
He said Monday’s billowing smoke was just one more example of failures to keep Suncor from violating its air pollution permits, and he demanded that Suncor officials meet with Commerce City residents to explain why it continues to happen.
“You can say it’s an error, a mistake, an accident,” he said. “You know what also isn’t good? To say this is routine. ”sent a community notification saying that increased smoke and flaring might be visible because of startup activities following maintenance work.
It was unclear whether Monday’s smoke was associated with the maintenance work. Efforts to reach Suncor officials Monday afternoon at the company’s Calgary, Canada, headquarters were unsuccessful. In Boulder climate case, U.S. Supreme Court will hear energy companies’ plea to block state court actionOn April 14, black smoke billowed from the Suncor refinery in Commerce City as the facility shut down one of its plants due to an electrical issue. Gusts of black smoke were visible for miles.
The incident led CDPHE to send inspectors to the site and issue the company one of its notifications.are used to burn off excess, combustible chemicals as a safety measure. The company is allowed to release visible smoke up to six minutes per hour, under the terms of its air permit.
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Suncor Energy Flare Tower Commerce City Denver Thick Black Smoke Yellow Smoke Community Notification Air Pollution Air Pollution Permits Startup Activities Maintenance Work Electrical Issue Billowing Smoke
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