EPA RCRA ID: VAD050990357
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Facility Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Status
Note: The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) is the lead agency for managing cleanups at this facility.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action are carried out under an Administrative Consent Order entered between EPA and BP in November 4, 1991.
The final remedy has been selected for this Facility and the majority of the construction of the soils portion of the remedy is complete. EPA prepared and released its Final Decision and Response to Comments for the selected cleanup approach for the Facility on March 31, 2004. The selected remedy required the excavation, consolidation and capping of soils, sludge materials and sediments with concentrations of contaminants above remedial goals within the footprint of two former land farms. These land farms were designated as Corrective Action Management Units (“CAMUs”) to facilitate the cleanup of the Facility and address both closure and corrective action requirements. Institutional controls have been established to prevent current and future potential exposure to contamination, as well as any activities that would impair the integrity of the remedy. The selected remedy for groundwater called for a three-phase approach to be implemented with the consolidation of impacted soils in the CAMU however this work has been delayed. We expect to begin Facility-wide groundwater work in late 2012.
The first phase of remedy construction was completed between 2007 and 2008. In September 2007, the Refinery ownership changed and additional time was requested to refine and finalize the design for phase two of the remedy. The second phase of construction of the soil remedy was completed between July 2010 and September 2011. Phase two of the remedy construction included stabilization of petroleum sludge and impacted soils and sediments, and the inspection, cleaning and repair of an oily water sewer that exists at the Facility. The majority of this work as well as the remaining soil remediation and CAMU construction were completed in September 2011. Operation and maintenance activities required for the CAMU covers have been ongoing since late 2008 for CAMU East and since September 2011 for CAMU West. These activities are expected to be ongoing for several years.
Additional work required to monitor groundwater at the CAMU sites and to delineate and remediate localized groundwater contamination on a Facility-wide basis will be ongoing for several years.
On May 30, 2019, the EPA conducted a Long Term Stewardship assessment to assess whether the remedy was implemented and protective of human health and the environment. EPA determined that the remedy institutional and engineering controls have been fully implemented and no control deficiencies were identified.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. It is not intended as an extensive list of milestones/activities. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table and the Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility table that follows, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The former Western Refining Yorktown Incorporated Facility covers 600 acres and is located in Yorktown, Virginia on the north side of the Goodwin Neck Peninsula. The Yorktown Refinery was constructed in the mid -1950's and the first process unit came on-line in November 1956. In the fall of 2010, Western decided to idle the Refinery production operations due to economic factors. On December 29, 2011 ownership of the Facility was transferred from Western to Plains Marketing, L.P., a subsidiary of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. The new owner intends to operate the Facility as a storage and distribution terminal. The Facility also has an industrial/solid waste landfill that has been permitted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
The former refinery is bounded by the York River on the north and east, by Back Creek on the south, by Virginia Power Company’s power station on the west, and by Bull Creek and a wooded area to the east. Back Creek Park is located southeast of the Facility, and consists of athletic fields and a public boat ramp. Several residences are situated in the immediate vicinity of the Facility (within one quarter mile) to the east, west and south.
Contaminants at this Facility
The primary contaminants in the soil, surface water and groundwater are petroleum hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene and xylene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenols, and heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, and cadmium.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls for the site include:
- Prohibition of residential land use
- Use of groundwater for drinking is prohibited
- Disturbance of the land caps on the SWMUs and Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU)
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
Documents available on-line: |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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Governmental Controls (GC) |
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Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | ||||
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Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.