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NPL Site Narrative for Florida Petroleum Reprocessors
FLORIDA PETROLEUM REPROCESSORS
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Federal Register Notice: March 6, 1998Conditions at Proposal (April 1997): The Florida Petroleum Reprocessors (FPR) site is located in a mixed residential and commercial area in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida. The site was originally owned and operated by Oil Conservationists, Inc. (OCI). OCI functioned as a waste oil transfer station from 1978 to mid-1985. Prior to 1978, the site was vacant. FPR leased the site from OCI in mid-1985, and later purchased the property in mid-1986 or 1987. From 1985 until about 1991, FPR purchased waste oils, fuels, and oily wastewaters from automotive, agricultural, and marine industries of south Florida, as well as state, municipal, and Federal generators. Upon receipt, the waste oils and wastewaters were tested for halogens and then stored on site in aboveground storage tanks. Waste oils were processed and then delivered to asphalt plants for use as fuel, used oil marketers, or phosphate mines for use as a flotation oil.
Sometime before mid-1985, OCI was cited by the Broward County Environmental Quality Control Board for (1) several releases or discharges of waste oils, grease, and hazardous substances, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs); and (2) chlorinated solvent contamination in ground water monitoring wells at concentrations exceeding county standards. As a result of the county citations, OCI, and subsequently FPR, retained Southeast Environmental Consultants, Inc. (SEEC), to conduct a contamination assessment and install additional monitoring wells at the site. According to SEEC reports, the aboveground storage tanks were moved into an on-site concrete containment area, an underground drop tank was removed, and monitoring wells were installed on site prior to late 1985.
Analytical results of samples collected by SEEC, which confirmed VOC contamination of on-site soils and ground water underlying the site, were provided to the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (FDER) in 1986, 1991, and 1992. Approximately 60 tons of soil contaminated with waste oils and chlorinated solvents were subsequently excavated. During the excavation, waste oil free product was encountered in on-site soil and the excavation was terminated because SEEC concluded that the free product abatement was beyond the scope of the clean up at that time. In 1995, VOCs were still detected in ground water samples collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from FPR monitoring wells. Samples collected by EPA from aboveground tanks indicated the presence of 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethene, and tetrachloroethene. Characterization and remedial activities are currently ongoing at the site.
During the testing of analytical equipment in December 1986, the City of Fort Lauderdale detected chlorinated solvents, primarily 1,2-dichloroethene, at high concentrations in municipal well 18 of the south Peele-Dixie well field, located just over 1 mile north of the FPR site. As a result of the contamination, the city closed down the south well field. Some of the wells were later put back on line, and an air tower used for pump-and-treat operations was constructed to remove contamination from the ground water. The Peele-Dixie well field currently contributes to a municipal system that serves nearly 54,000 connections. At least eight additional municipal systems obtain potable water from well fields located within 4 miles of the site.
Ground water monitoring conducted by the City of Fort Lauderdale and FDER at the Peele-Dixie well field from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s has shown consistent detection of VOCs, including 1,2-dichloroethene, trichloroethene, and vinyl chloride.
Status (March 1998): EPA has completed a Remedial Investigation (RI) and Baseline Risk Assessment Evaluation of cleanup alternatives, and a Feasibility Study is underway. Results of the RI and previous characterization studies indicate that the FPR facility is a significant source of the ground water contamination.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.