The largest petroleum cleanup in northwestern Pennsylvania is
currently ongoing underneath the sprawling American Refining Group
refinery.
The oldest continuously operating refinery in the country
occupies 131 acres between the City of Bradford and Foster
Township, stretching 1 1/2 miles along the Tunungwant Creek.
Officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection
said the cleanup – which is primarily being done by Chemtura Corp.,
of Middlebury, Conn., the successors to the former owners of the
refinery, Crompton Corp. – is necessary because the operation of
the refinery has caused soil, groundwater and surface water
contamination over the course of its lifespan – however there is no
immediate danger to human health.
DEP spokesperson Freda Tarbell said under a private agreement
with ARG, Chemtura has agreed to remediate the historic
contamination at the refinery; a process being monitored by the
agency. A site characterization report needs to be submitted to DEP
by the spring, which will contain a risk assessment report on the
work and outline any ecological or human health risks.
The site is also on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
site contamination list.
“This agreement does ensure that property will be cleaned up to
a standard that protects human health and the environment,” Tarbell
said.
Chemtura has spent more than $10 million over the last few years
to investigate and remediate the site, according to Debra Durbin,
director of corporate communications for Chemtura. ARG is
responsible for remediation efforts from the time it purchased the
refinery from Chemtura in 1997.
“The refinery’s former owner-operator is managing the
characterization and remediation of the historic contamination,”
Stephen Sherk, vice president of compliance for ARG, said in an
e-mail to The Era. “ARG is cooperating in every way possible with
them. ARG is very pleased with their efforts and are confident that
the remediation efforts have negated risks to health and human
safety.”
Tarbell said DEP, ARG and Chemtura entered into a consent order
and agreement in June of 2004 in order to “facilitate a faster
cleanup.”
“They are legally binding documents where milestones are set in
the cleaning up process,” Tarbell said, adding there have been
numerous environmental investigations at the refinery to locate
exactly where the contamination is.
Tarbell said between May of 2003 and March of 2004 alone, about
14.87 million gallons of groundwater and 8,000 gallons of
petroleum-related product were recovered from scores of pumping
wells at the main refinery; an additional 14,500 gallons of
petroleum-related product has been recovered manually from selected
wells throughout the refinery since 2002.
“There is a lot of petroleum-related product floating on a
shallow aquafirm beneath the main refinery,” Tarbell said, noting
consultants hired by Chemtura have identified 29 distinct plumes of
the material; they have also estimated there are 85,200 gallons of
product floating on the water table.
Tarbell said the situation has caused “petroleum seep” into the
nearby Tuna Creek from the flood walls of the main refinery. She
said there is no estimate on how much material has been released
into the creek over the years.
According to Tarbell, since 1984, Chemtura took a number of
interim remedial steps to address the seepage, including installing
wells to collect the material and groundwater. “Those initial
recovery systems were not effective in stalling the seep or
recovering the floating product.”
However, officials said since 2002, the seeps into the Tuna have
decreased significantly and the creek supports aquatic life. This
is, in part, because of improved wells and the installation of a $1
million wastewater treatment plant and improved maintenance and
recovery systems.
“It really has done a lot as far as addressing the plume and its
impact on the Tuna Creek,” Tarbell said. “But, there is still a lot
more to do. Although the oil seep resulted in sheens that residents
might have observed in the past they are now relatively under
control, but occasional sheens can still be observed.
“When you consider the fact this operation has been there since
1881, it’s not surprising there is a situation like this,” Tarbell
added. “That facility dominates Bradford.”
Durbin said the creek is inspected daily and there “hasn’t been
anything detected in six to nine months or longer.”
“We did an extensive sampling of the water site, including the
creek and four tributaries going through the site in May 2005,”
Durbin said, noting Chemtura has two full-time workers at the site
working on the remediation. “We are generally happy with the
progress over the last few years. We are making progress and feel
DEP is pleased with the work we are doing.”
Durbin said every two years a wildlife study and surface water
sampling is completed, noting there are more than 450 groundwater
monitoring wells on site. She said any oil collected is sent back
to the refinery for use.
According to Tarbell, there is no set expiration date for the
consent order and agreement, adding the site characterization
report will be used as a blueprint for the cleanup operation in the
future. She said a permanent solution will eventually be reached,
which could include a variety of activities.
Durbin said Chemtura is in the process of finalizing its site
characterization study, noting a draft was submitted to DEP last
summer. Chemtura officials also met with DEP in November to discuss
the issue.
