May 12, 2015
Before Big West Oil LLC acquired its North Salt
Lake refinery in 1986, the plant’s former operator dumped or spilled
numerous hazardous wastes at the site, a once-common practice that
became closely regulated in the early 1980s under new federal laws.
Those forgotten chemical sludges have continued
to haunt Big West over the years because the company failed to properly
clean up and close the spots where they were dumped, according to newly released documents from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
Big West now has agreed to a rigorous
monitoring and remediation plan to resolve concerns that contaminated
soils on its 150-acre property at 333 W. Center St. could affect
groundwater. The DEQ posted the proposed settlement on Thursday, opening
a public comment period through June 16.
The ground under and around the refinery, which
process 35,000 barrels a day, has been contaminated, but monitoring has
turned up no evidence that contaminated water has migrated off the
property, according to Rolf Johnsson of the Division of Solid and
Hazardous Waste.
The DEQ’s chief concern was a 2-acre dump,
known as a “land treatment area,” where prior operator Husky Oil Corp.
deposited sludges and other hazardous wastes between 1962 and 1982.
“They completed 30 years of groundwater
monitoring associated with that unit. We are gearing them up to another
30 years of monitoring. That’s a lot of effort,” he said. “It provides a
road map on how they will provide documentation to show the level of
contamination at the site and ensure at the end of the day that it is
protective of the environment and human health.”
Messages left with Big West executives were not returned Tuesday.
The five refineries along Interstate 15 near
the Salt Lake-Davis county line have had issues with old hazardous waste
dumped in an era when standards were lax to non-existent. But Big West,
which has struggled with bankruptcy, mishaps and environmental
compliance problems, is the last to get these waste issues resolved.
A pipeline leak released diesel fuel in 2008
and last month a tank “boiled over,” spilling 18,000 gallons of crude,
according to DEQ reports. In 2012, Big West agreed to a fine and $18
million in upgrades to resolve federal allegations that its emissions
violated the Clean Air Act.
Over the years at the refinery, 43 other sites
have been identified that could have been contaminated by hazardous
materials. For example, when an old administration building was
undergoing renovation, excavators discovered the ground around it was
contaminated and the project was relocated to a cleaner place. Under the
settlement, these sites will be investigated and cleaned up, if
necessary, by 2020, Johnsson said.
The land will remain tainted but usable for some purposes.
“They have to put a notice on a deed and have
restrictions on how they can use that land. They are not going to clean
this up to a degree that you could put homes out there, but it will be
cleaned up to a level that it is appropriate for industrial use. There
will be restrictions on use of groundwater. You wouldn’t be able to dig
the soil and take it to another site,” Johnsson said.
“They have been proactive,” Johnsson added.
“They say they want to have the data on their website to keep people
aware of what’s going on out there.”
Under laws adopted in the 1980s, refiners’
hazardous wastes are transported to facilities licensed to incinerate
them or place them in landfills.
Big West is among the state’s leading
generators of hazardous waste, sending more than 1,000 tons a year to
facilities operated by Clean Harbors and other licensed processors,
according to DEQ.