The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board said Friday that “significant amounts of contamination” exist on the 650 acres that make up Phillips 66 refinery sites in Wilmington and Carson, and that it will probably take “years to clean up” the soil and groundwater.
Phillips 66 announced Wednesday, Oct. 16 that it would close the refineries connected by 5 miles of pipeline by the end of 2025. The Houston-based energy giant also hired a pair of real estate firms to develop potential uses for the land.
“There is a large amount of pollution in soil and groundwater at the Carson and Wilmington facilities,” a spokeswoman for the LA Water Board said via email. “However, there is ongoing soil vapor and groundwater clean-up and significant amounts of contamination are presently being removed at both facilities.”
The agency, in a roundabout manner, said the site cleanup would be monitored carefully.
“While the assessment and cleanup of refineries has its challenges due to the magnitude and extent of the contamination typically encountered, the Los Angeles Water Board is committed to our role in ensuring the refineries under our regulatory oversight will be cleaned up in a manner that will protect water quality, human health and the environment,” the spokeswoman said.
“Once all the equipment, piping, substructures, tanks, and other structures are removed, it will be much easier to fully assess the refinery in terms of the contaminated soil, soil vapor, and groundwater,” she said.
Soil vapor is the air that exists in the spaces between soil particles. It becomes concerning when the vapor contains volatile chemicals and seeps into the atmosphere.
The cleanup could take years before any homes or mixed-use projects are constructed on the land.
“It will probably take years to clean up the soil and soil vapor, and longer for the groundwater,” she said. “The technology does exist … to remove and remediate the crude oil and the refined petroleum products in the soil and groundwater at the refinery. The overall assessment and cleanup process will be time-consuming.”
The LA office is one of nine regional boards – under the State Water Board in Sacramento – that has primary responsibility for meeting state and federal water quality standards, assessing groundwater quality, permitting pollution discharges to ground and surface waters, and directing the cleanup of contaminated groundwater resources.