Former Sunoco Refinery Gets New Life Under New Management
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The job-saving deal to save the former Sunoco refinery is officially complete.
Dignitaries gathered in South Philadelphia today to mark the formation of a new company called Philadelphia Energy Solutions.
The joint venture between Sunoco and the investment firm The Carlyle Group keeps the refinery and its 850 jobs alive.
At a morning ceremony, United Steelworkers union president Leo Gerard said Carlyle wants to be in the refining business.
"They've been upfront and honest, and they haven't come in to strip and flip the plant," Gerard said today. "They've come in to fix them, to make them work, and to try to build a good relationship with the union and with the membership."
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett (at lectern in photo) says the deal preserves more than just jobs at the plant.
"There are a lot of jobs that are not direct to here that would have been affected throughout the entire southeast, and the image of Philadelphia if this facility was mothballed."
Philadelphia Energy Solutions plans to refine cheaper domestic crude to be more competitive.
