OSWER/OSRTI

Washington, DC 20460

NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST (NPL) 

***Proposed Site*** May 2013 

WILCOX OIL COMPANY Creek County, Oklahoma 

Creek County 

 Site Location:

Wilcox Oil Company (Wilcox) includes the inactive and abandoned Lorraine and Wilcox oil refineries located in 

Creek County, Oklahoma. The site is located within commuting distance to Tulsa. 

 Site History:

The site consists of the former Lorraine/Wilcox Refinery located in Creek County, Oklahoma. The property was 

utilized by two different refineries with overlapping boundaries from 1915 to 1965. Wilcox operated as a crude oil 

refinery from the 1920s until 1963. A skimming and cracking plant was constructed in 1929. The main components of 

the plant consisted of a skimming plant, cracking unit and re-distillation battery with vapor recovery system and 

treatment equipment. Wilcox expanded when it acquired the Lorraine Refinery in 1937, which was located adjacent to 

Wilcox. The two refineries comprise 125 acres. The site includes remnants of former oil refining operations and tank 

farms. Currently there are six residents living on-site, homes are located in areas of former waste operations. 

 Site Contamination/Contaminants:

Wilcox site sources include contaminated soil, cooling ponds and numerous tank bottoms. Hazardous substances 

include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals, primarily lead. 

 Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment: 

Currently, a church and six residents are located within the former refinery boundaries, half of which utilize ground 

water from private wells. Intermittent streams drain the source areas and flow to Sand Creek. A release of copper, lead 

and PAHs has been documented to the wetlands of Sand Creek. Sand Creek flows to Little Deep Fork Creek from 

which fish are caught for human consumption. 

 Response Activities (to date):

No formal response activities have been conducted. Multiple sampling events have been conducted by the Oklahoma 

Department of Environmental Quality at the request of the EPA Region 6. Preliminary Assessment (PA), Site 

Investigation (SI) and Expanded Site Investigation (ESI) have been performed at both facilities. 

 Need for NPL Listing:

The state of Oklahoma referred the site to the EPA because the potentially responsible party would not voluntarily

address site contamination. Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated, but are not viable at this time. 

The EPA received a letter of support for placing this site on the NPL from the state of Oklahoma. 

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may 

change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination. See 56 FR 5600, February 11, 1991, or subsequent 

FR notices.]

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to 

these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on 

the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/index.asp or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.