DEP: Risk Assessment Did Not Prove Chemicals Polluting Soil & Groundwater At American Refinery Group’s Bradford Petroleum Refinery Met Safe Environmental Cleanup Standards

On July 15, the Department of Environmental Protection published a formal notice that it had disapproved a Risk Assessment submitted by the American Refinery Group saying it did not prove the cleanup of chemicals polluting soil and groundwater at ARG’s Bradford petroleum refinery in McKean County met a safe cleanup standard.  (July 15 PA Bulletin, page 3759)

The Assessment was supposed to prove soil and groundwater contaminated with a long list of chemicals met the site-specific standard under DEP’s Act 2 Land Recycling Program.

The chemical pollutants included Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl Benzene, Xylenes (total), Cumene (Isopropylbenzene), Methyl tert- Butyl Ether, Naphthalene, Trimethyl benzene, 1,2,4- (Trimethyl benzene, 1,3,4-), Trimethyl benzene, 1,3,5-, Fluorene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Pyrene, Chrysene, Benzo(a)anthracene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benzo(a) pyrene, Benzo(g,h,i)perylene and groundwater: Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl Benzene, Xylenes (total), Cumene (Isopropylbenzene), Methyl tert-Butyl Ether, Naphtha- lene, Trimethyl benzene, 1,2,4-(Trimethyl benzene, 1,3,4-), Trimethyl benzene, 1,3,5-, Phenanthrene, Pyrene, and Chrysene for EU-6.

Many of these chemicals are known to cause cancer and other serious health impacts at certain concentrations.

For more information, contact “Ben” at DEP’s Northwest Regional Office Environmental Cleanup and Brownfields Program at 814-350-5132.

NewsClips:

-- Public News Service: Report: Oil And Gas Air Pollution Effects On Health Of Pennsylvanians  

-- TribLive: Protect PT Seeks Support For Proposed Ordinance Regulating Shale Gas Wells In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County; Meeting July 13 

-- Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund: The Law Did Not Save Grant Township’s Water From PA General Energy Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well, The People Of Grant Did 

-- StateImpactPA - Susan Phillips: New Sinkhole Forms [Again] Along Mariner East Natural Gas Liquids Pipeline In Chester County

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports PA Natural Gas Production Peaked In 4th Quarter 2021 [PaEN] 

-- US Energy Information Administration: 2022 Appalachian Natural Gas Production Flat With Productivity Declines In Key Counties In PA

-- Bloomberg: Sweet Spot For Building New US LNG Natural Gas Projects Is Fading

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Have Biggest Weekly Loss Of The Year

-- Bloomberg: European Power Prices Fall Below Zero This Weekend With Green Power Boom 

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 8 to 14; Failed Shale Gas, Conventional Well Plugging; Leaking Conventional Wells  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - July 15  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Risk Assessment Did Not Prove Chemicals Polluting Soil & Groundwater At American Refinery Group’s Bradford Petroleum Refinery Met Safe Environmental Cleanup Standards  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Invites Comments On CNX Midstream Project To Expose Natural Gas, Water/Wastewater Pipelines To Prevent Longwall Coal Mining Damage In Greene County  [PaEN]  

-- DEP Posted 60 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In July 15 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Secretary Negrin To Citizen Activists: ‘We Don’t Represent Chevron, We Don’t Represent Shell And I’ve Made That Absolutely Clear-- We’re Holding Those Leaders Accountable’  [PaEN] 

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Do Oil & Gas Drillers Owe Taxpayers Royalties For Oil & Gas Under Roads, Streets, Bridges And Other Taxpayer-Owned Land?  [PaEN]

-- EQB No Longer Has Statutory Authority To Change Conventional Oil & Gas Well Bonding Amounts To Help Prevent 400 to 600 New Well Abandonments A Year; Adopts Proposed Changes To Water Quality Standards For Comment  [PaEN] 

-- PA Eligible To Apply For $76.4 Million In Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Funding To Plug Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells; Conventional Operators Still Abandoning Wells  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts Draft Final Chapter 105 Environmental Assessment Alternatives Analysis; Will Discuss At Agricultural Advisory Board Meeting July 18  [PaEN]

-- DEP Announces July 13 Local Steering Committee Meeting For $5 Million Shell Petrochemical Plant Community Fund  [PaEN]

-- DEP Reminder Of July 25 Hearing On Proposed Oil & Gas Waste Injection Well In Clara Twp., Potter County

-- MethaneSAT-EDF Successfully Test Methane Detection Technology To Be Used To Document Methane Emissions From Onshore Natural Gas Production In North America  [PaEN]

-- DEP Blog: Do You Know What’s Below? Gasoline Stations And Aging Underground Storage Tanks In Pennsylvania [PaEN] 

[Posted: July 14, 2023]  PA Environment Digest