EPA orders hazardous waste investigation at former Cities Service Refinery, East Chicago

February 10, 2020

For Immediate Release No. 19-OPA-132

CHICAGO (February 10, 2020) -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Citgo Petroleum Corp. and Oxy USA have agreed to investigate and address hazardous waste releases at the former Cities Service Refinery, 2500 E. Chicago Ave., East Chicago, Indiana. EPA’s administrative orders on consent under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act require the companies to determine the nature and extent of hazardous waste releases at the former refinery and tank terminal and clean up any releases that may pose a risk to human health or the environment.

“This is another example of the ongoing commitment that EPA and the State of Indiana – which provided valuable information about the site – have to cleaning up hazardous-waste sites in East Chicago,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Kurt Thiede. “I appreciate the willingness Citgo and Oxy have shown to cooperate and work towards our common goals of protecting local human health and the environment.”

Since 1929, the former Cities Service Refinery site has gone through multiple owners and operational configurations. Today, the northern portion of the site is the currently active Citgo petroleum terminal. The southern portion of the site remains vacant after refinery activities ceased in 1972, and the above-ground structures were razed in the 1980s.

For more information: https://www.epa.gov/hwcorrectiveactionsites/hazardous-waste-cleanup-former-cities-service-refinery-east-chicago-indiana

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