A north Denver pipeline company has withdrawn plans to expand operations near Dupont Elementary School in Commerce City.

“Magellan Pipeline Company, LP, a ONEOK subsidiary, has withdrawn its air permit application for the proposed five-tank expansion at the company’s Dupont, Colorado, location,” a ONEOK spokesperson said in a statement released Thursday. “The proposed tanks are no longer necessary based on the customer’s decision to back out of the commercial contract. ONEOK will continue to meet customer needs through Magellan’s existing, valuable infrastructure in the area and looks forward to working with stakeholders.”

Adams School District chief legal counsel Joe Salazar said the move is a definite win.

“It is a victory for our community, for Cultivando — and the community at large,” Salazar said.

Commerce City and its neighboring communities have long been at odds with the oil and gas companies that operate in the area, such as the Suncor refinery, expressing concerns over safety, clean air, and effects on public health.

“The community had absolutely no ideas about this project until we found out in July,” Salazar said.

That’s when neighbors and activists gathered to learn more.

Many parents and residents who attended a community meeting at Adams City High School on Saturday, Sept. 7, said they were unaware of Magellan’s plan to enlarge its gasoline storage facility and that the company’s lack of community outreach and communication was “disturbing.”

Salazar said that while Magellan’s withdrawal is something for the group to celebrate, there is more work that needs to be done.

“While this stops the environmental degradation this community has endured for years, it’s (the problem) still here,” he said.

Salazar’s next step is to meet with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s leadership to discuss continued violations of the Environmental Justice Act.

The additional storage tanks would have accommodated more reformulated gasoline, required in certain areas of Colorado from June 1 to Sept. 15 as part of the federal Clean Air Act.