Chelsea River Bulk Petroleum Storage Facilities NPDES Permits
- Background
- Final Permits
- Draft Permits
- Environmental Justice Analysis
- 2014 Permit Documents
- 2005-2006 Permit Documents
Background
On September 30, 2022, U.S. EPA issued five final NPDES permits under the Clean Water Act for bulk petroleum storage facilities located along Chelsea River (also known as Chelsea Creek). The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is issuing similar permits to these facilities under the state's Clean Waters Act. Further information, including copies of the final permits, additional information and resources, and key historical documentation is available on this web site using the links below. Documents may be downloaded and printed using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
EPA issued final permits for the following facilities: Global Companies, LLC Terminal in Revere (MA0000825); Gulf Oil Terminal in Chelsea (MA0001091); Irving Oil Revere Terminal in Revere (MA0001929); Chelsea Sandwich Terminal in Chelsea (MA0003280) and Sunoco Logistics East Boston Terminal in Boston (MA0004006). These facilities receive, store and distribute petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and fuel oil. Petroleum products and additives are received in bulk quantities by ship or barge at marine vessel docks and transferred to aboveground storage tanks located within each facility's tank farm areas. The petroleum products are transported off-site by tanker truck, ship, or pipeline. A single permit, MA0000825, has been issued for two Global Companies LLC facilities that were previously permitted individually under permits MA0000825 and MA0003425. A third Global Companies, LLC facility has changed ownership and the type of activity conducted at the site. As a result, EPA has terminated permits MA0003298 and MA0003425. Additional information is provided below:
Press Releases:
- English press release
- Spanish press release (pdf) (79 K)
- Portugese press release (pdf) (78 K)
- Hatian Creole press release (pdf) (79 K)
- Chinese press release (pdf) (226 K)
Final Permits
On September 29, 2022, EPA issued final NPDES permits for the five bulk petroleum storage facilities located along Chelsea Creek. These five permits are effective December 1, 2022, pending appeal. The five final permits, EPA's Response to Comments document, and additional resources are provided below:
- Final Global Permit (pdf) (475 K)
- Final Chelsea Permit (pdf) (385 K)
- Final Irving Permit (pdf) (371 K)
- Year 1 Irving SWPPP (pdf) (10.7 MB)
- Year 1 Irving Monitoring Data Summary (xlsx) (67 K)
- Final Gulf Permit (pdf) (368 K)
- Year 1 Gulf SWPPP (pdf) (7.9 MB)
- Year 1 Gulf Monitoring Data Summary (xlsx) (68 K)
- Final Sunoco Permit (pdf) (383 K)
- Final Response to Comments (pdf) (2.2 MB)
- Outfall Maps (pdf) (1.3 MB)
Additional Resources:
- NPDES Monitoring Data Download | ECHO | US EPA
- ECHO Notify | ECHO | US EPA
- ECHO tutorial (pdf) (716 K)
- Major Storm and Flood Event BMP Data Resource
Individuals with further questions concerning these permits may contact: Shauna Little, Industrial NPDES Permits at (617) 918-1989 or Little.Shauna@epa.gov.
Draft Permits
On February 10, 2021, EPA issued draft NPDES permits for the five bulk petroleum storage facilities located along Chelsea Creek for a 60-day public comment period. The five draft permits are provided below:
- Global Companies LLC Terminal, Revere, MA, MA0000825 (pdf) (4 MB)
- Irving Oil Revere Terminal, Revere, MA, MA0001929 (pdf) (3 MB)
- Sunoco Logistics East Boston Terminal, Boston, MA, MA0004006 (pdf) (3 MB)
- Gulf Oil Terminal, Chelsea, MA, MA0001091 (pdf) (3 MB)
- Chelsea Sandwich LLC, Chelsea, MA, MA0003280 (pdf) (3 MB)
Note: EPA made corrections to Draft Permit MA0001091 on February 11, 2021 as follows:
- Gulf Oil Terminal, Chelsea, MA Draft NPDES Permit (Revised 2/11/21) (pdf) (3 MB)
- Gulf Oil Terminal Errata Notification (2/11/21) (pdf) (145 K)
Note: EPA made corrections to Draft Permit MA0004006 on February 11, 2021 as follows:
- Sunoco Logistics East Boston Terminal, Boston, MA Draft NPDES Permit (Revised 2/11/21) (pdf) (3 MB)
- Sunoco Logistics East Boston Terminal Errata Notification (2/11/21) (pdf) (144 K)
Chelsea River Clean Water Act Permits Virtual Public Hearing held on 3/29/21
Presentations:
- English: Chelsea Creek Bulk Petroleum Storage Facilities Draft NPDES Permits and Environmental Justice Analysis (pdf) (916 K)
- Spanish: Borradores de permisos del NPDES y Análisis de Justicia Ambiental para las instalaciones de almacenamiento a granel de petróleo de Chelsea Creek (pdf) (846 K)
- Haitian Creole: Pèmi NPDES Pwojè Enstalasyon Estokaj Chelsea Creek Bulk Petroleum ak Analiz Jistis Anviwònmantal (pdf) (820 K)
- Portuguese: Projeto das instalações de armazenamento de petróleo a granel de Chelsea Creek, licenças do NPDES e análise de justiça ambiental (pdf) (881 K)
Chelsea River Clean Water Act Permits Virtual Public Meeting held on 3/15/21:
Presentations:
- English: Chelsea Creek Bulk Petroleum Storage Facilities Draft NPDES Permits and Environmental Justice Analysis - Informational Meeting, March 15, 2021 (pdf) (1.4 MB)
- Spanish: Borradores de permisos del NPDES y Análisis de Justicia Ambiental para las instalaciones de almacenamiento a granel de petróleo de Chelsea Creek - Reunión informativa, 15 de marzo de 2021 (pdf) (1.5 MB)
- Haitian Creole: Pèmi NPDES Pwojè Enstalasyon Estokaj Chelsea Creek Bulk Petroleum ak Analiz Jistis Anviwònmantal - Rankont Enfòmasyon, 15 Mas 2021(pdf) (1.4 MB)
- Portuguese: Projeto das instalações de armazenamento de petróleo a granel de Chelsea Creek, licenças do NPDES e análise de justiça ambiental - Reunião informativa, segunda-feira, 15 de março de 2021 (pdf) (1.6 MB)
Environmental Justice Analysis
EPA also issued an EJA on February 10, 2021. The EJA is provided below.
- Environmental Justice Analysis for Clean Water Act Chelsea River Bulk Petroleum Storage Facilities (pdf) (487 K)
- Análisis de Justicia Ambiental para los Permisos del Sistema Nacional de Eliminación de Descargas de Contaminantes en Virtud de la Ley de Agua Limpia Para las Instalaciones de Almacenamiento de Petróleo a Granel Ubicadas a lo Largo del Río Chelsea (Spanish) (pdf) (468 K)
- Análise de Justiça Ambiental para a Lei da Água Limpa Licenciamento do Sistema Nacional de Eliminação de Descargas de Poluentes das Instalações de Graneleiros do Rio Chelsea (Portuguese) (pdf) (476 K)
- Analiz Jistis Anviwònmantal pou Clean Water Act Pèmi Sistèm Nasyonal pou Eliminasyon Dechè Polyan pou Enstalasyon Estokaj Petwòl an Vrak nan Chelsea River (Haitian Creole) (pdf) (433 K)
If you have further questions concerning the Environmental Justice Analysis, please contact: Jeff Norcross (Norcross.Jeffrey@epa.gov or (617) 918-1839).
2014 Permit Documents
The final permits, response to comments and supporting documentation for the seven terminals, listed by their respective NPDES permit numbers, are available as follows:
- Chelsea Sandwich Terminal (Chelsea) (MA0003280) (pdf) (2.8 MB)
- Gulf Oil Terminal (Chelsea) (MA0001091) (pdf) (3.2 MB)
- Global REVCO Terminal (Revere) (MA0003298) (pdf) (3 MB)
- Global Petroleum Terminal (Revere) (MA0003425) (pdf) (2.9 MB)
- Global South Terminal (Revere) (MA0000825) (pdf) (2.8 MB)
- Irving Oil Terminal (Revere) (MA0001929) (pdf) (2.9 MB)
- Sunoco Logistics Terminal (East Boston) (MA0004006) (pdf) (3.4 MB)
The draft NPDES permits for seven bulk petroleum storage facilities located along Chelsea Creek issued on March 14, 2014 are provided below.
- Chelsea Sandwich Terminal (Chelsea) (MA0003280) (pdf) (2.2 MB)
- Gulf Oil Terminal (Chelsea) (MA0001091) (pdf) (2.6 MB)
- Global REVCO Terminal (Revere) (MA0003298) (pdf) (2.3 MB)
- Global Petroleum Terminal (Revere) (MA0003425) (pdf) (2.3 MB)
- Global South Terminal (Revere) (MA0000825) (pdf) (2.2 MB)
- Irving Oil Terminal (Revere) (MA0001929) (pdf) (2.4 MB)
- Sunoco Logistics Terminal (East Boston) (MA0004006) (pdf) (3.1 MB)
Note: EPA made corrections to Draft Permit MA0004006 provided below.
- Summary of Corrections (pdf) (86 K)
- Correction Notice to Permittee dated April 11, 2014 (pdf) (509 K)
The public notice period for the 2014 draft NPDES permit was March 14, 2014 to May 12, 2014. EPA held a public meeting and hearing on April 17, 2014 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The 2014 public notice is provided below.
The Environmental Justice Analysis in support of the permitting actions issued on March 14, 2014 is provided below.
- Environmental Justice Analysis in Support of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits for the Chelsea River Bulk Petroleum Storage Facilities (pdf) (1.5 MB)
- Análisis de justicia ambiental en apoyo de los permisos del Sistema Nacional de Eliminación de Descargas de Contaminantes para las instalaciones de almacenamiento de petróleo a granel del río Chelsea (pdf) (1.1 MB)
2005-2006 Permit Documents
The 2005-2006 permits were jointly issued by EPA and the MADEP in 2005 and 2006. The permits are available at the links provided below:
- Chelsea Sandwich, LLC Final Permit (pdf) (595 K)
- Gulf Oil Limited Partnership Final Permit (pdf) (487 K)
- Global REVCO Terminal, LLC Final Permit (pdf) (546 K)
- Global Petroleum Corporation Final Permit (pdf) (787 K)
- Global South Terminal, LLC Final Permit (pdf) (531 K)
- Irving Oil Terminal - Revere Final Permit (pdf) (494 K)
- Sunoco Logistics Terminal (ConocoPhillips East Boston Terminal) Final Permit (pdf) (81 K)
A joint public information meeting and public hearing was held in Chelsea, Massachusetts on April 27, 2005 for six of the permits listed above and the permit terminated for Coastal Oil. EPA's Responses to Comments and additional materials related to the 2005-2006 permits are provided below.
- Chelsea Creek Fuel Terminals Responses to Comments (pdf) (97 K)
- April 2005 Public Meeting Presentation (pdf) (1.4 MB)
- Chelsea Creek Fuel Terminals Summary Fact Sheet (pdf) (457 K)
- Chelsea Creek Fuel Terminals Public Notice (pdf) (190 K)
The NPDES permit for Coastal Oil permit number MA0004375 that was terminated is provided below.