ENV-04-198 Converting a Liability into an Asset: Recycling Remediated Material at a Petroleum Refinery

Description:

The clean-up of a former petroleum refinery which contained non-hazardous and hazardous solid and liquid waste impoundments and soils impacted with hydrocarbons and metals has taken two pathways over the last ten years. These pathways could be viewed as being in opposition to one another. However, the goal of any remediation program is to improve the environmental status of the site, and that has been the ultimate result. A unifying element is that the first pathway made the subsequent pathway viable from economic, regulatory and technical perspectives. Prior to any remediation at the site, an evaluation of remedial options was undertaken. The initial method selected for soil remediation was recycling. Recycling of the soils produced commercial grade road building products. The second soil remediation method selected was the construction of an on-site Containment Cell to hold impacted site soils. The construction of a Containment Cell had been considered in the original evaluation of remedial options, but recycling was chosen because it was economically beneficial, and because it was readily embraced by the local community and company management. In addition, the recycling option dealt more effectively with the liquid wastes in impoundments. The positive elements of recycling for this project were: · Recycling was cost competitive with off-site waste disposal, without the sale of the product; and · Recycling created a product, rather than a waste.