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Delta Plans To Reopen Trainer Refinery By Labor Day

By David Madden and Oren Liebermann

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Government officials hailed the sale of the ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer, Delaware County to a division of Delta Airlines, which plans to use the facility to keep its own fuel costs in check.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett committed to $30 million dollars to make the deal with Delta happen. And while he won't get specific, he says his people are working constantly to get the future of Sunoco's Philadelphia refinery set in stone.

A confidentiality agreement with the Carlyle Group — private investment managers — is still in place.

"We are working behind the scenes and have been working with Sunoco. I have personal representatives talking to Sunoco on a regular basis, offering whatever they need from us just as we did here with Delta," Corbett said.

And the Trainer facility will be making more then jet fuel and unleaded gasoline. They will produce hope--the Delta deal will keep all 400 workers here for at least another five years.

"This refinery is not merely a place of employment," said Governor Tom Corbett, "it is a symbol of this region's link to the past, but also its readiness for the future."

"I've been in there 38 years, and this couldn't be better news for a lot of people," said Fred Chazin.

Delta says they expect to save about $300 million a year by producing jet fuel in Trainer. That work supports local shops and businesses. Lawmakers estimate the refinery supports more than 5,000 jobs in the community.

"Keeping [the refinery] alive kind of trickles down to everybody in the community," said Tim Arnold, a manager at the Marcus Hook Pharmacy. "All of our businesses depend on the local businesses and the local jobs to be here."

A tentative agreement with the union is already in place. It still needs ratification to get the refinery back online and back to work.

Delta says they are aiming to have the refinery producing fuel by Labor Day.

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