Former Premcor Refinery
Environmental Investigations
Fact Sheet #1
June 2004
Blue Island, Illinois
Background
In March of 2004, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois
EPA) and Illinois Attorney General’s Office signed an enforceable
Consent Order with The PREMCOR Refining Group (Premcor) requiring Premcor
to perform environmental investigations at their Blue Island refinery.
The Premcor refinery site occupies nearly 156 acres flanking the southwestern
edge of Blue Island. Premcor-owned parcels are within an area bounded to
the north and east by 127th St. and a northwest/ southeast railroad line,
to the south by the Calumet Sag Channel and to the west by an industrial
area (see map). Formerly known as the Clark-Blue Island Refinery, refining
operations began at the site with the Great Lakes Refinery in the mid-1920s
and continued until Premcor decided to close the refinery in 2001.
The Illinois EPA performed off-site environmental investigations in the
fall of 2001 and did not find ongoing or residual health impacts to nearby
residential communities from past refinery catalyst releases to the air.
Refinery operations may have impacted neighboring surface water bodies,
however, additional investigation is needed to determine the source of
those contaminants identified above background levels.
2001 Off-Site Investigation
In the fall of 2001 the Illinois EPA conducted an assessment of residential
soils in the area where airborne catalysts were deposited. Further investigation
also assessed sediment and surface water from the Calumet Sag Channel
and drainage creeks to determine whether these waterways were impacted
by the site’s contaminated soils, groundwater, or direct contaminant
releases to surface water.
To determine the impact of past catalyst releases, the investigation measured
the metals content of the upper several inches of soil in residential areas
downwind of the refinery. None of the data collected indicate any ongoing
residual impacts to human health or the environment from past catalyst
deposition.
To assess any residual impacts of refinery operations to surface water,
the sediment and water samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), pesticides, poly-chlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) and metals. Like metals, the SVOCs and PCBs are classes
of contaminants that can remain bound to soils and sediments for long periods.
Water and sediment samples collected from the surface water bodies near
the site contain some SVOCs, pesticides and metals at concentrations greater
than samples upstream of the
site. However, they cannot be attributed definitively to Premcor since
there are many other potential sources nearby. Investigation on-site will
be necessary to identify whether Premcor could be a source of the additional
contamination.
Next Step: On-Site Investigation
Premcor’s characterization of environmental contamination at the
former refinery site will begin in the spring of 2004 with the oversight
of the Illinois EPA and under the terms of the Consent Order between the
state and Premcor. To facilitate the project’s management, the Consent
Order divides the site into seven areas to be investigated. These divisions
are based on the types of activities that took place in each area during
the site’s operational history or on known or potential areas of
like contamination.
The Remedial Investigation (RI) will focus on fully characterizing environmental
conditions at the three formerly industrialized areas of the site (Areas
3, 4 and 5), area by area. Four other parcels of property owned by Premcor
but not historically used for petroleum processing or storage (Areas 1,
2, 6 and 7) will also be assessed through a more streamlined process known
as the Site Investigation (SI). If these areas are determined not to require
cleanup, they could be released for redevelopment. Any of these SI
areas will be moved into the group of areas undergoing the full RI process
if further investigation and remediation are necessary.
Premcor’s area-specific investigations will assess the environmental
condition of surface and subsurface soils, groundwater, surface water and
sediments. The type and extent of contamination will be identified including
any off-site migration via contaminated groundwater or surface water.
Future Remedial Process
Once these environmental investigations have been completed, Premcor
will prepare a Remedial Investigation report and Feasibility Study (RI/FS)
to fully describe the environmental problems at the site and the feasible
options for remedies. The Illinois EPA will review the RI/FS and prepare
a Proposed Plan describing the remedial options that address the site’s
contamination problems and identifying the state’s preferred remedy.
This document will be presented to the community during a public meeting
and made available for public comment. Once the public comments are considered,
the Proposed Plan will be finalized and a Record of Decision (ROD) will
be prepared that identifies the selected remedy. Another enforceable
Consent Order will then be negotiated with Premcor for the design and
implementation of the remedy.
For more information, you may contact:
A local information repository has been established for residents to review
the investigation documents. The Consent Order and the approved work plans,
investigation reports, and other major documents generated from Premcor’s
environmental investigations will be made available at the Blue Island
Public Library.
Fact sheets and other project information produced by Illinois EPA will
also be available at the Library’s repository.
If you have questions or wish to be added to, or removed from, the site
mailing list contact:
Mara McGinnis
Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Community Relations
1021 N. Grand Ave. East
Springfield, Illinois 62794-9276
(217) 524-3288
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