Environmental Progress - Winter 2000

Lawrence County Site
On Superfund List

Site along Embarras River has
a long, complicated history

On December 6, 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the Indian Refining-Texaco Lawrenceville site has been named to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund hazardous waste sites. It was proposed for addition to the NPL in July 1998. Sites on the NPL are eligible for long-term cleanup under the Superfund program.

The former refinery site, also known as the Indian Refining Company, is a 990-acre inactive oil refining facility along the Embarras River in Lawrence County in southeast Illinois. Oil refining began at this site in the early 1900s and ceased in November 1995.

Through the years, a variety of operations took place on the property as part of the crude oil refining process. The northeastern portion of the property was dedicated to lube oil refining and production. An important development in lube oil refining called Furfural Refining was developed at the site, and first commercial use of the process is accredited to the Indian Refining Company at Lawrenceville in 1933. This process resulted in Havoline oil, which used Midwestern crude for motor oil. Until that time, only eastern oils were used as motor oil. Texaco purchased the controlling stock for Indian Refinery and the Furfural process in 1938.

Site had many uses, names

Once important parts of operations at the site, rusting abandoned tanks like these and the ones in the photo above are now merely large eyesores.

Because of the complex history of the site, it is referred to as Texaco Inc., Indian Refining LP, Indian Refining Company or American Western Refining LP. Indian Refining Company owns Indian Acres and the land treatment unit, two former disposal areas. A small northern part of Indian Acres was sold to the city of Lawrenceville for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in the early 1980s.

During the years of operation, various products were produced there including liquid petroleum gas, motor gasoline, aviation gasoline, jet fuel, burner oil, diesel oil, home heating oil, fuel oil, asphalt materials, lube oil and motor oil. Wastes generated by these operations include oily sludges, leaded tank bottoms, acidic lube oil filter clay, lime sludge, catalyst waste and tar/asphalt wastes.

Current site activity includes demolition work at the refinery that began in June 1998. U.S.EPA and Illinois EPA expect aboveground demolition to be completed by December 2001. In addition, Texaco is working on a small cleanup of soils affected by tar-like acidic waste material in the residential area immediately north of the refinery.

Problems reflect changes over decades

Booms prevent field petroleum contamination drainage from entering the Embarras River.

The lube oil refinery was located north of the B & O Railroad, near what is known today as Indian Acres and Indian Acres North. The lube oil production facility was abandoned sometime after World War II. The current refining facility is located south of the B & O Railroad in the central portion of the property. This area consists of a wastewater treatment area, process units, refinery equipment, settling basins, API separators, tanks and disposal areas. Tanks, swampy land and a pond occupy the southern portion of the property. Numerous spills have been documented from storage tanks into the surrounding area. A land treatment unit and tank farms occupy the part of the property west of Route 1.

In 1985, Texaco left the site. In 1989, the Illinois EPA Division of Air Pollution investigated uncontrolled blowing asbestos at the refinery. Asbestos had been used to wrap piping throughout the facility. After Texaco left, maintenance of the wrapping ended. The wrapping then deteriorated and was carried throughout the facility. An asbestos removal was conducted in 1990.

Consent order signed in 1992

In 1992, Illinois EPA entered into a consent order with some of the former owners, requiring an environmental assessment of the facility. Some areas to be investigated included a wastewater treatment pond, former wastewater treatment plant lagoons, tar pits, groundwater contaminated with petroleum products near the administration building and a 26-acre disposal area. The disposal area, known as Indian Acres, is northeast of the refinery operations. The area was used as a dumping site for many years for wastes generated from several processes at the refinery. One of the wastes disposed of there in the 1930s and '40s originated from a lubricating oil manufacturing process that used sulfuric acid. The western and northwestern boundaries of the old disposal area for this waste are adjacent to some Lawrenceville residences. The eastern side of the area is bounded by the Embarras River, and the southern boundary is adjacent to the B & O Railroad track. The northern portion of the disposal area is the location of the municipal sewage treatment facility.

Acidic tar waste generated by the refinery covers a field in the Indian Acres area.

In June 1996, Illinois EPA site investigators found signs of prior trespassing on that part of the property. Since it was known that some area residents could come into contact with the acidic waste, Indian Acres was found to present an imminent risk to human health and the environment. The Illinois EPA sealed the area and restricted general access or use of that portion of the site. Testing confirmed the presence of a very acidic tar-like waste on part of the Indian Acres area.

During October 1996, the Illinois EPA and the U.S. EPA initiated an immediate removal action in a residential area north of the site, near Indian Acres. Tar-like waste was excavated and removed from properties on Fourth and Hickory streets. Some of the residential properties were purchased and access was restricted.

In June 1997, hydrocarbon material floating on the groundwater was discovered entering the wetland area at the south of the facility near Tank 572. An assessment of the release confirmed that subsurface hydrocarbon product floating on groundwater was discharging at several points into wetlands beyond the refinery fence line. The wetlands are hydraulically connected to the Embarras River, which then flows into the Wabash River. U.S. EPA began emergency stabilization efforts, which continued during the last half of 1997 and into spring 1998. Most of the vegetation in the wooded wetlands area impacted by the release was dead or damaged. Samples of the material at the release site revealed the presence of benzene, toluene, xylene, methylnaphthalene, naphthalene, trimethylbenzene and total petroleum hydrocarbons.

A treatment system was put in place by the U.S. EPA and continues to capture and pump contaminated groundwater to an oil-water separator at the refinery for treatment.

American Western Refining, under conditions of the bankruptcy, agreed to provide both personnel and electrical and water utilities support to this temporary remedy for at least the next two years.

Residential investigation

Soil on private property adjacent to the refinery was also sampled.

During the spring of 2000, a total of 157 residential properties around the perimeter of the refinery were inspected to determine if the tar-like, acidic waste material was present. Illinois EPA and U.S. EPA staff and local and county health department officials interviewed residents about possible locations of waste material and technical assessments were performed on the properties. Soil borings were taken on approximately 100 properties.

Since no new areas of contamination were uncovered on the properties nearest the refinery border, U.S. EPA and Illinois EPA determined that Texaco did not need to inspect for this particular type of waste-like material any further at this time. If, however, during the remedial investigation for the main site, some type of contamination is found to be traveling off-site, Texaco will be responsible to follow the contamination to its extent and clean it up.

Main site investigation

Texaco recently proposed a work plan to begin the remedial investigation for the entire site, which covers areas such as Indian Acres, the Land Treatment area, the large tank farms west of Route 1 and ecological issues in the wetlands. Investigations of soil and water contamination for the entire site probably will continue for several years before any remedy might be proposed. The former refinery site is one of the first sites for which Illinois EPA is planning a Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) at the front-end of the investigation. Illinois EPA, a natural resources trustee, is working closely with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the effort. Plans for data collection related to the NRDA concerns during the investigation for the main part of the site will be incorporated into the remedial investigation process.

Community concerns

Community interviews revealed concerns about spills and other environmental releases as well as concerns about whether or not the refinery would operate again and what that would mean to the community. Accounts given by area residents reveal past oil spills, jet fuel releases, leaks from damaged floating lids on storage tanks, hydrocarbon products on the groundwater and in private wells near the facility and fallout of ash material onto private properties. Citizens have also been concerned about deteriorating and blowing asbestos from outdoor equipment on several occasions. There is a long history of bothersome odors from the plant and repeated fallout of gray or white ash.

Lawrenceville is a community of fewer than 5,000 people. Since the early 1900s, the refinery located just south of town provided employment to many area residents. County taxes from the refinery have helped to fund schools, a local library, road repairs, public parks, public health and many other local services. Many area residents have worked directly for the refinery over the years or have contracted work with the refinery, such as construction and hauling services. One local resident commented about the demolition at the refinery, that "it will be very hard to see the refinery go." She recalled that, as a small child, she drove with her mother each morning to drop off her father at the refinery for work. She remembered seeing the big "cat cracker" (catalytic cracking unit) and referred to it as a local landmark. Another resident mentioned that the large, spherical butane tanks "were decorated with Christmas lights each year." Many Lawrenceville residents have expressed regret that the facility will no longer be part of their community.

Future uses of the property

Local officials and area residents have proposed some ideas for possible future uses of the refinery property, although nothing has been formally worked out with site owners. Some want the refinery property to be reused as a small industrial park. Others are interested in restoring the wetlands or using the area as a public park or golf course.