NEW YORK – Phillips 66’s 238,000 barrel-per-day Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey, is weeks away from restarting due to heavy damage caused by salt water flooding into the facility from the neighboring Arthur Kill during Hurricane Sandy, a source familiar with refinery operations said on Friday.

While the company is not giving any internal timeline for the restart, it is telling employees it is “optimistic” the refinery will restart soon, the source said.

A company spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Work is underway on one of the two docks where the pumps were ruined by salt water. Estimates for one dock to return to service and receive product are for next week, the source said.

Parts of the neighboring co-generation plant which provides steam and power to the refinery were under four feet of water during the storm but is expected to be able to restart quickly, the source said.

Local commercial power provider PSE&G said on Friday it had restored had at least four feet of water in their power house but are expected to return to service shortly, the source said.

(Reporting By Janet McGurty; Editing by David Gregorio and Bob Burgdorfer)