Wood River Refinery West Fence Line Environmental Investigations: Roxana, Illinois (Illinois EPA Update #1)

              State of Illinois
Pat Quinn, Governor
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Douglas P. Scott, Director
Illinois
Environmental
Protection Agency
Office of Community Relations
1021 N. Grand Avenue East
Springfield, Illinois 62702
January 2011
Illinois EPA UPDATE #1:
Wood River Refinery West Fence Line Environmental Investigations
Roxana, Illinois
Background:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) is requiring Shell Oil Products US (Shell) to investigate and adequately remediate petroleum product releases at and near the Conoco-Phillips Wood River Refinery in Roxana, Illinois. One of the release locations is along a portion of the western boundary of the refinery; another is near the intersection of Rand Ave. and Central St. The area potentially affected by these two releases is bounded to the north by 1st St., to the south by Rand Ave., to the west by Central St., and to the east by Chaffer St. Shell owned the refinery for many years and is responsible for addressing certain environmental issues there.
Shell has conducted initial environmental investigations in this area and found relatively high concentrations of certain petroleum chemicals, including benzene, in subsurface soil vapors near the refinery boundary and dissolved hydrocarbons in groundwater at several specific locations.
Additional Investigation to Begin:
These chemicals have the potential to migrate through soils as vapor, entering buildings through earthen crawlspaces, cracked floor slabs or cracks in basements. The Illinois EPA and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) are concerned about the health of those who could be exposed to these vapors. Because of the potential for vapor intrusion into homes and other buildings, the Illinois EPA has directed Shell to investigate whether this is a problem in the affected area of Roxana.
Shell must sample at selected homes in the area and at the Roxana Public Works facilities to determine if petroleum vapors are entering the buildings from the soils below. Shell’s contractor, URS, will begin contacting homeowners and residents at the beginning of February to request permission to sample and hopes to begin sampling for chemical vapors at selected residences in the areas of concern during February.
A fact sheet discussing vapor intrusion is available from the IDPH web site at: http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/factsheets/vaporintrusionfs.htm
What will happen at these homes?
Shell’s vapor intrusion sampling will initially focus on 14 selected homes close to the fence line and near where soil and/or groundwater contaminant concentrations are highest. Letters will be sent to the selected homes’ owners and residents requesting their participation. The letters will also offer the opportunity for one representative of Shell and one from the Illinois EPA or IDPH to come to the home together to explain the sampling procedure.
At participating homes, URS will collect three soil gas samples from below the house slab (in slab-on-grade construction) or below the basement floor, and samples of air from the basement and from the first floor. IDPH will send homeowners/residents their sample analysis results and an interpretation letter