Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery

We invite you to review and comment on the Draft NPDES Water Quality Permit for Phillips 66 Refinery in Whatcom County from Sept. 6 2023 – Oct. , 2023.

•    Draft permit
•    Support document explaining the permit

Public events

• You may request a public hearing to ask questions and submit verbal comments. To request a hearing, contact Tara Roberts, Industrial Section, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600, tara.roberts@ecy.wa.gov. If we determine there is significant public interest during this comment period to hold a hearing, we will extend the comment period to allow at least 30 days notice of the hearing and publish the time, date and location. When the comment period ends, we will review all comments received and making a final decision on the permit. If you would like to be added to the list of interested parties for Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery and receive updates on Ecology’s Industrial Section actions at the site, contact Tara Roberts at tara.roberts@ecy.wa.gov.

When the comment period ends, we'll review the comments received and make a final decision on issuing the permits.

The Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery operates a wastewater treatment plant that discharges to the Strait of Georgia.

The proposed permit includes the following changes:

• Adds average monthly and daily maximum limits for Total Chromium
• Adds average monthly limit for Hexavalent Chromium
• Adds Enterococci and nutrient monitoring at Outfall 001
• Adds daily maximum limit for Total Residual Chlorine
• Adds AKART analysis and Engineering Report requirement for Outfalls 004, 006, and 007
• Adds an acute toxicity limit for Whole Effuent Toxicity (WET) testing
• Adds new test species for WET testing
• Adds construction stormwater discharge authorization and monitoring
• Reduces monitoring frequencies for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), ammonia, and hexavalent chromium
• Adds Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) study