Norco refinery is first in U.S. to meet environmental requirement

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jun 28, 2004 by Richard Slawsky

Officials at the Motiva Enterprises/ Shell Chemical Norco East refinery site in Norco have been recognized by state and federal agencies for successfully remediating and managing environmental problems at the refinery.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality declared the site Ready for Reuse after determining environmental concerns at the 826-acre site had been properly addressed. Over the course of the property's history as a refinery site, a number of chemical contamination problems have been identified, including excessive levels of lead, mercury, and benzene.

The Ready for Reuse determination recognizes when problems on a particular piece of property have been characterized and there are risk management activities in place, said Doug Bradford, geologist supervisor at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality environmental technology division. It is significant that the Motiva refinery is the first refinery in the nation to receive this determination.

Bradford said the determination indicates the property is safe for its intended use. In the case of a vacant property, he said, the determination helps put the site back into commerce.

Even environmental activists, who have been battling Shell for years over contamination at the Norco site, say the refinery has made progress in dealing with contamination at the site although air quality is still a problem they said.

They may have made great strides in some areas but they still have to answer the fundamental question of what chemicals they are putting into the community, said Anne Rolfes, director of the environmental group Louisiana Bucket Brigade. That is something they've really failed to address.

The Norco site certification was based on analysis of nearly 100 environmental investigations during the past 20 years.

What we've done is not just a cleanup effort but also a management program, said Oliver Boyd, Motiva Enterprises LLC water programs coordinator. We have put a lot of work into doing risk-based analysis and we've been very proactive in our programs.

Because the site has been in continuous use and the certifications came about as a result of several different efforts, the company has no cost analysis of the effort, Boyd said. However, he said, Motiva spent more than $500,000 on groundwater monitoring, he said.

For the Norco site, the main benefit of certification is it gives confidence to support businesses or clients considering locating on the grounds of the refinery, Bradford said. It also tells the community progress has been made in cleanup efforts on the site, he said.

This is strictly a voluntary program, Bradford said. There are not financial incentives or tax benefits due to participating.

According to the EPA, a Ready for Reuse determination provides specific information about a site, including the nature and extent of contamination, cleanup work performed and the status of the property with respect to state and federal requirements.

The determination is a way of pulling together all of the assessments that have been done over a period of time, Bradford said. It recognizes when a site has been characterized and has risk management activities in place.

Norco is the third Louisiana site to receive Ready for Reuse certification, Bradford said. Ten sites have been certified in Region 6, which includes Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and 66 Native American reservations. Several other Louisiana companies have applied for certification for this year, he said

The Ready for Reuse certification was developed by the EPA as part of the National Land Revitalization Action Agenda unveiled in April 2003. The program is designed to encourage site cleanups that support redevelopment opportunities.

We are building on our experience using the enormously successful brownfields program signed into law by President Bush, said Richard Greene, EPA regional administrator. The Brownfields Revitalization Act passed in 2002 provides various legal tools to help speed the process of redeveloping brownfields.

According to the EPA, brownfields are property where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

Norco, constructed in 1916, was the original site of the New Orleans Refining Co., for which the town was named. Houston-based Shell Oil Co. and its subsidiary Motiva Enterprises have operated the facility since 1929.

Motiva technicians prepared for the certification by taking samples from 105 locations around the site's fence line to confirm there were no off-site impacts, Boyd said. Motiva also developed a system of 74 groundwater-monitoring wells that will be continually tested to gauge future conditions, he said.

We knew we had some areas of concern that were on the interior of the property but we wanted to make sure that there was nothing leaving our property, Boyd said. Some areas may be impacted but they are not migrating anywhere. We know where those areas are and we've put safeguards in place to protect our workers.