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# NPL Site Narrative for Falcon Refinery

FALCON REFINERY Ingleside, Texas Federal Register Notice: September 5, 2002

The Falcon Refinery site occupies approximately 104 acres in San Patricio County, Texas, and is located 1.7 miles southeast of State Hi ghway 361 on FM 2725 at the northwest and southeast corners of Farm to Market 2725 and Bish op Road. The site is bordered by wetlands to the northeast and southeast, residential ar eas to the north and so uthwest, an abandoned refinery to the northwest, and a construction company to the southwes t. The site is being proposed to the NPL based on evidence thathazardous substances, including arsenic, barium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, me rcury, nickel, selenium, vanadium, zinc and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have migrated or could potentially migrate from the facility to active fisheries and sensitive envi ronments within the adjacent wetlands, Redfish Bay, Aranas Bay, and Corpus Christi Bay.

The Falcon Refinery faci lity consists of a refinery that ha s operated intermittently since 1980 and is currently inactive. When in operation, the refinery operated at a 40,000 barrels per day capacity with primary products consisting of naphtha, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel, and fuel oil. Another portion of the site includes a do ck facility on Redfish Ba y where materials were transferred between barges and storage tank s. The refinery processed material that consisted of not only crude oil but also co ntained hazardous substances including K048 (dissolved air flotation float), K049 (slop oil emulsion solids), K050 (heat exchanger bundle cleaning sludge), and K051 (API separator sludge ) wastes. Other wastes at the site include: (1) vinyl acetate detected inside tanks during a EPA Criminal Invest igation Division (CID) criminal investigation and a TNRCC Region 14 sampling event, (2) cooling tower sludges containing chromium, (3) non crude oil constituents detected in a pipeline spill, (4) untreated wastewater release inside tank berms, and (5) leaking drums.

The history of this site is marked by the numero us complaints by nearby residents as early as 1978 concerning the construction of the facilit y along Redfish Bay, odors allegedly produced from processing impure crude in 1985-86 and th en to odors associated with a spill in 2000. On March 12, 1986, an inspection conducted by the Texas Water Commission revealed that the company had disposed of cooling tower sl udges on-site and untreated wastewater in tankage was discharged into sa ndy, unlined containment structures. On November 15, 1995, during a hydrostatic pipeline test, a spill of appr oximately eight barrels of a crude oil mixture occurred in the wetlands adjacent to the facility. During a January 2000 compliance inspection, TNRCC observed a leak from a tank in a naptha stabilizer unit. TNRCC estimated that approximately 220 gallons of industrial wa ste had leaked from the tank. In response, TNRCC conducted soil and sediment sampling activities in May 2000.

During the 2000 Expanded Site Inspection, TNR CC documented the presence of fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo( b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo (a)pyrene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, benzo(g,h, i)perylene, dibenz(a,h )anthracene, barium, 

## National Priorities List (NPL) Last u p dated on Wednesda y, November 11th

, 2009. htt p : // www.e p a. g ov /su p erfund /sites / n p l / nar1667.htm 

### Page 1 of 2 N PL Site Narrative for Falcon Refinery | National Priorities List (NPL) | US EPA

12/3/2009 http ://www.e p a. g ov/su p erfund/sites/np l/nar1667.htmmanganese, and mercury in sediment sample s collected from the nearby wetlands and Redfish Bay. Redfish Bay supports an active finf ish and shellfish fishery, and potential habitat areas for several State and Federal threatened or endangered species, including the brown pelican and reddish egret, and Kemp's ridley se a turtle. The Redfish Bay, Aranas Bay, Corpus Christi Bay system is a designated National Estuary.

For more information about the hazardous substa nces identified in th is narrative summary, including general information regarding the ef fects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxi c Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422- 8737. 

### Page 2 of 2 N PL Site Narrative for Falcon Refinery | National Priorities List (NPL) | US EPA

12/3/2009 http ://www.e p a. g ov/su p erfund/sites/np l/nar1667.htm