EPA Issues Two Orders for Hazardous Waste Investigation at Former Cities Service Refinery in Indiana

On January 24, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed two administrative orders on consent (AOCs) under Section 3008(h) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), one with the CITGO Petroleum Corporation for the active tank terminal, and one with OXY USA, Inc. for the closed Cities Service Refinery. The AOCs require the companies to define the nature and extent of releases of hazardous waste or constituents from the facilities; and then to clean up any releases that pose a risk to human health or the environment. 

According to the AOCs, CITGO and OXY plan to use RCRA Facilities Investigation Remedy Selection Track (RCRA FIRST) tools in developing corrective measures at the facility and must consider green remediation best management practices, in addition to job creation, both temporary and permanent when developing cleanup plans and activities. CITGO and OXY will coordinate their efforts to ensure exposures to contamination are under control and the migration of contaminated groundwater is stabilized.

On the page:

• Information about the Companies
• Information about the Former Cities Service Refinery Facility
• Overview of the RCRA § 3008(h) Order
• Contact Information

Information about the Companies

CITGO Petroleum Corporation - In March 1983, Cities Service created CITGO for their refining, marketing, and transportation operations. In September 1983, Cities sold CITGO to The Southland Corporation, which in turn sold half of CITGO operations to Petroleos de Venezuela, South America (PDVSA). In 1990, the other half of CITGO was sold to PDVSA. CITGO operates as an independent business entity of PDVSA. CITGO’s bulk storage operations receive refined petroleum products and store them prior to shipment to its customers via pipeline or tanker truck.

OXY USA, Inc. - OXY is a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation and successor to Cities Service, which had engaged in treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste at the combined Refinery site and CITGO Terminal complex.

Information about the Former Cities Service Refinery Facility

The Former Cities Service Refinery site, located in East Chicago, Indiana, is divided into the Closed Cities Refinery and the active CITGO Terminal.

Since 1929, the former Cities Service Refinery site has gone through multiple owners and operational configurations. Today, the northern portion of the site is the currently active CITGO Petroleum Terminal. The operating CITGO Terminal occupies 228.5-acres and has 53 tanks with a capacity of approximately 180,000,000 gallons of petroleum products. Contiguous to the CITGO Terminal on the southern portion of the site is the closed Cities Service Refinery that occupies 93.2-acres and is owned by OXY  The refinery operated from 1929 until 1982. All above ground structures of the former refinery were dismantled and removed from the property in the 1980s.

The Former Cities Service Refinery site is in a mixed commercial, industrial, and residential area and is bounded to the north and west by residential areas, and to the southwest by wetlands. The Grand Calumet River is one half mile south and the Gary/Chicago International Airport is located to the east of the site.

Previous investigations have confirmed that there is existing oil contamination at the former Cities Service Refinery owned by OXY , but it is not known whether releases extend off-site. Further, sampling at the Refinery Site and the CITGO Terminal identified one or more of the following hazardous constituents: lead, arsenic, benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, 1,4 dioxane, methyl ethyl ketone, and xylene in groundwater. Past sampling also identified asbestos and petroleum-related hazardous constituents in soil.

For more information on the site visit the Agency’s Former Cities Service Refinery site webpage.

Overview of the RCRA § 3008(h) Orders

While proceeding under separate orders to address hazardous wastes and hazardous constituents at or originating from the former combined refinery and bulk storage terminal complex, CITGO and OXY will coordinate their efforts as necessary and appropriate. OXY is taking responsibility for the Refinery area and CITGO is taking responsibility for the CITGO Terminal area of the site.

Under the AOCs, CITGO and OXY are required to:

• Provide for EPA approval a Corrective Action Framework (CAF), which is a tool summarizing the goals and expectations of the parties that will facilitate performance of the work to be performed;
• Develop a RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) work plan to identify the nature and extent of any releases of hazardous waste and hazardous constituents at or from the site that may pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment;
• Perform an investigation to identify the nature and extent of any releases of hazardous waste and hazardous constituents at or from the site that may pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment;
• Provide an investigation report to EPA for review and approval that describes the nature and extent of any releases of hazardous wastes and constituents at or from the site;
• Establish for EPA review and approval corrective measures necessary to protect human health and the environment from all current and future unacceptable risks due to releases of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents at the site; and
• Establish and maintain financial assurance in the amount of the estimated cost of work for the benefit of the EPA.

Contact Information

For more information contact:

Todd Gmitro
Project Manager
312-886-5909
[email protected]

Renee Wawczak
Project Manager
312-886-0749
[email protected]

77 West Jackson Boulevard
U.S. Environmental Protect Agency
Region 5
Chicago, IL 60604