The U.S. government has sued Quaker State Corp., alleging hazardous waste violations at its Newell, W.Va., refinery after more than 1 ft of petroleum was found in groundwater underlying the site.

At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency Region III office in Philadelphia issued a unilateral order directing Quaker State to begin cleaning up all hazardous waste releases at the 10,500 b/cd refinery.

A civil complaint, filed in federal district court in Hancock County, W. Va., alleges Quaker State illegally operated four surface impoundments covering a combined 1/2 acre that receive waste from the plant's refining operations. The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the complaint on behalf of EPA Region III.

The EPA-DOJ complaint alleges the four surface impoundments-some in use since 1972-are cracked and could be leaking, yet lack proper liners, leachate collection systems, and groundwater monitoring wells. EPA and West Virginia state regulations issued under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) require all three environmental safeguards.

Authorities found evidence of the alleged violations during inspections in May 1991 and May 1992. Quaker State began installing groundwater monitoring wells in December 1991 and recovered samples from at least two wells that showed a layer of petroleum more than 1 ft thick floating in groundwater.

Federal law allows civil penalties of as much as $25,000/day for each violation of federal and state hazardous waste regulations. DOJ reportedly will seek a penalty adequate to deter future violations, as well as to recover money Quaker State saved by allegedly not complying with the law.

EPA'S UNILATERAL ORDER

EPA Region III filed the unilateral cleanup order under its own administrative authority.

Normally, EPA and operators of RCRA regulated facilities agree on how a cleanup is to be conducted, then both sign administrative consent agreements to carry out corrective actions. However, if the parties cannot agree on cleanup terms, as occurred in this case, EPA issues a unilateral order that spells out how the pollution is to be cleaned up.

According to the order, Quaker State is to conduct a RCRA corrective action investigation, including a step-by-step cleanup process requiring the company to:

Study and quantify the extent of each type of soil, water, and air contamination occurring at the Newell plant.
Propose corrective measures or cleanup options for EPA approval.
Implement the measures recommended by EPA.

A public comment period is required about the method of cleanup chosen by EPA before Quaker State implements the plan. Quaker State has 30 days to request either a hearing to contest the order or a settlement conference.

EPA and DOJ stressed they started enforcement actions to protect human health and the environment on the refinery site and in areas bordering the facility.

The Ohio River and Congo Run flowing adjacent to the Newell plant are used for boating and fishing. In addition, residential housing is as close as 550 ft from the plant, and residential drinking water wells are within 300 ft of the facility boundary. However, no available data indicates whether the drinking water wells are contaminated by refinery waste.

Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.

ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS CITED AT W. VA. REFINERY

In order to access this content, you must be logged-in and have an active subscription to the OGJ Premium Archive