RRC Finishes Five-Year, $147 Million Effort to Clean Up Abandoned Oil Waste Recycling Facility

RRC FINISHES FIVE-YEAR, $14.7 MILLION EFFORT TO CLEAN UP ABANDONED OIL WASTE RECYCLING FACILITY

A five-year project to remediate an abandoned East Texas oil waste recycling facility was completed at the end of January. RRC’s $14.7 million cleanup of Enviropave’s abandoned East Texas Reclamation Plant, a few miles southwest of Kilgore, had been ongoing since August 2017. The abandoned site not only had contaminated soils and other products that had to be removed, but there was also a stream which was threatened by the unmanaged waste left behind.

The former facility previously had a stationary treatment permit for reclamation and would take wastes contaminated via oil and gas operations, such as drill cuttings and soils, and turn them into usable

products, such as road base. The facility failed to uphold the requirements for its permit and had its permit revoked in 2016 by final order after a series of violations were cited during RRC inspections. After the permit was revoked, the company filed for bankruptcy, leaving the mess in the hands of the State Managed Cleanup Program. “The effort was so large that cleanup coordinators from around the state and technical staff from Austin had to travel to Kilgore to help oversee the cleanup,” said Art Correa, RRC State Managed Cleanup Program Team Lead.

Correa explained that contractors cannot work unless RRC staff are onsite, approving and inspecting all jobs. “We’re the first ones in the gate and the last ones to leave,” he said. The first phase, which focused on the removal of waste, was completed in August 2018. The final phase of cleanup involved the removal of an additional waste, subsurface excavation, confirmation sampling and backfill so that the surface could be contoured and hydromulched with native grass seed. This final phase of waste removal and backfill was completed December 2021.

The largest challenge for the cleanup work was dealing with the rain. “Rainwater that falls on the waste becomes contact waste water,” said Peter Pope, Manager of RRC Site Remediation. “We are protecting the environment by eliminating the accumulation of rainwater in a fairly wet part of the state by removing this waste and backfilling with clean soil. Now, we’ve permanently protected the creek from the threat of contamination.” The RRC is maintaining monitoring wells at the site and keep watch for any impacts to groundwater.