HUDSON REFINERY SUPERFUND SITE

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City: Cushing
County: Payne
Site Type: Abandoned Refinery
Area: 0.31 square miles / 200 acres
Township and Range: SW ¼, Section 33, Township 18 North, Range 5 East; NE ¼, Northwest ¼, Section 4, Township 17 North, Range 5 East

Latitude: 35.98581533
Longitude: -96.78024867
National Priorities List: Final Listing Date - July 22, 1999
Cleanup Oversight Agencies: DEQ and EPA
Lead Agency: EPA
Office: DEQ, Land Protection Division, (405)702-5100
DEQ Site Project Manager: Dennis Datin, (405) 702-5125
DEQ Press Contact: Skylar McElhaney, (405)702-7167
Current Status: Cleanup underway

Land Use Restrictions: The process and tank areas of the site will be available for commercial/industrial reuse; Institutional Controls (ICs) will be required to make sure re-use is appropriate. ICs will include deed notices placed on land that was contaminated throughout the site. The deed notices will identify the reason for the notice, the affected property, the remedy, engineering controls, land use restrictions, and ground water use restrictions prohibiting use of the shallow ground water. The ICs will be implemented and monitored by the DEQ after cleanup is completed. The City of Cushing currently has an ordinance in place that limits access to the site to EPA, DEQ, Land O’Lakes and remediation contractors until completion of site cleanup. The site is currently zoned for industrial use.

Regulatory Profile:
•Sources of Contamination: Contamination stemmed from the production of liquid propane gas, gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel fuel, and fuel oils during refining operations. The North Refinery consisted of a refinery process area, a hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation plant, a tetraethyl lead (TEL) building, associated above ground storage tanks (ASTs), office, storage, maintenance buildings, and treatment ponds. The South Refinery consisted of a refinery process area, a TEL building, laboratory buildings, ASTs, and an unlined coke pond.
• Contaminants of Concern: benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzene, arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium, thallium, asbestos, light non-aqueous phase liquid, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, TEL, hydrochloric acid, hydrosulfuric acid and calcium hypochlorite
• Media Affected: Past operations at the site resulted in the discharge of contaminants to the on-site soil, waste pond sediment, pond surface water, and ground water. The principal chemicals of concern for each media affected are as follows:
o Soil: benzo(a)pyrene, arsenic, and lead o Waste Pond Sediment: benzo(a)anthracene and benzo(a)pyrene
o Pond Surface Water: benzo(a)pyrene
o Ground water: benzene and thallium
• Surface Water Impacted: Skull Creek
•Groundwater Impacted: Vanoss Aquifer

Site History & Background: The Hudson Refinery site is a 200-acre, abandoned, crude oil refinery that was active from 1922 to 1982. Located north and south of State Highway 33 on the west side of Cushing, the North and South Refinery properties include about 165 and 35 acres, respectively. The refinery produced liquid propane gas, gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oils, and coke. More than 60 years of production activities generated wastes which resulted in the release of many hazardous substances at the site. EPA performed emergency removal actions in 1998 and 1999. Activities included removal of asbestos and tetraethyl lead from storage tanks, demolition of the refinery structures, disposal of laboratory chemicals and other wastes. The site was included in the National Priorities List (NPL) in July 1999. In September 2002, EPA, DEQ, Army Corp of Engineers, and Coast Guard began removing asbestos, production chemicals, catalysts, and unsafe structures on the North Refinery. This removal action was completed in June 2003. From 2004 through 2006, DEQ and EPA investigated and evaluated options for cleanup. The investigation identified the types, quantities, and locations of contaminants and the Feasibility Study developed ways to address the contamination problems. EPA identified Land O’ Lakes, Inc. (LOL), a Minnesota cooperative corporation, as a former owner of the site based on a merger between LOL and Midland Cooperatives, Inc. (Midland). Midland owned and operated the site from 1943 through 1977. On January 6, 2009, EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) directing that LOL perform the Remedial Design and Remedial Action at the site. LOL completed the Remedial Design in 2010 and is currently performing the Remedial Action at the site.

Cleanup Status: Cleanup phase; completion scheduled for September 2010.
• Cleanup will include excavation, stabilization, and transportation to a regulated off-site disposal facility of:
o Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM)
o Coke Tar
o Scrap Metal
o Contaminated Soil
o Contaminated Sediment from waste ponds and sumps
• Surface water from ponds with contaminated sediment was treated on-site and discharged into Skull Creek.
• Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL) was removed from an on-site well and monitoring has been implemented.
• Ground water monitoring plans were developed during remedial design and are being implemented to ensure contaminated ground water does not move off-site.

Did You Know? Children got involved in getting the Hudson Site cleaned up. In April 1998, Cushing Middle School students started a letter writing campaign to get public officials to investigate the abandoned refineries in the vicinity of Cushing.
Completed Activities:

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Date Completed