2014-08-28_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C2010088

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There is some weedy vegetation and native shrubs covering parts of the site, along with Tamarisk trees and other native grasses and shrubs lining the surface waterways. These surface water bodies include Reed Wash and the Loma Drain, both traversing the site in a general northeast- southwest direction and flowing toward the nearby Colorado River. The site adjoins the former Fruita Refinery to the east. To the south, there are former evaporation ponds and undeveloped areas. There are private residential and rural agricultural lands to the west and northwest. A main railroad corridor and highway easement are located to the north, beyond which are agricultural lands. The site and adjacent lands were undeveloped or in agricultural use prior to the start of a refinery operation in 1957 by the American Gilsonitc Company. The refinery originally processed gilsonite (i.e., bitumen: a naturally- occurring solid or semi - solid hydrocarbon) ore into liquid products and petroleum coke. Gilsonite was mined and transported via pipeline, in slurry form, about 72 miles from the Bonanza mining district to the refinery complex from 1957 to 1973. The refinery was later converted to process conventional crude oils into liquids and coke. Gary Energy Corporation (Gary) purchased the operation in December 1973 and produced gasoline and diesel fuel, jet fuel, naphtha, vacuum gas oil, heavy fuel oil, calcined petroleum coke and liquefied petroleum gas. Refinery operations continued through about 1993, with several ownersloperators including Gary, Westinghouse Savannah River Co. and Landmark Petroleum. The Iand east of Reed Wash is currently unused and is a remnant of the former petroleum refinery operations. T'he portion of the site west of Reed Wash is undeveloped. There are wetland areas west of Reed Wash. Industrial operations formerly occurred in the eastern part of the site, where several large impoundments that exist presently were utilized as evaporation ponds and landfarm areas for refinery - generated waters and waste materials. There are several landfill areas at the site, where coke fines are buried, along with a 7 -acre closed landfill which contains solidified acid - sludge material. The acid - sludge waste cell is a mounded and soil- capped square area, about 7 acres in size, near the site's northeast corner. The waste cell contains approximately 85,000 cubic yards of solidified acid sludge. This area is subject to the post - closure operation and maintenance requirements specified in Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's (CDPHE's) solid waste regulations, which primarily include erosion control of the landfill cap. The 39 -acre landfarm area consists of former evaporation ponds. This area received Closure Certification from CDPHE on August 25, 2005 for residential/unrestricted use (Exhibit t 5), However, there are odor issues associated with this area and the surface soils appear to be sterile since they are completely devoid of vegetation. There are several areas in the northeast part of the site where coke particulate- matter was disposed in a series of excavated and unlined trenches- The material apparently originated from baghouses connected to the former boiler exhaust stacks. In 1955, it was reported that at least 10,000 cubic yards of cokefines were landfilled. The landfill appears to have a cap of native soils.