The state of Alaska has approved a plan by Flint Hills Resources to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater at its mothballed North Pole refinery. Cleanup measures will include groundwater treatment, fuel recovery, removing contaminants from groundwater and excavation of contaminated soil from certain areas. The plan memorializes management practices for a potential future owner of the refinery and limits future use of the site to industrial operations.
Meanwhile, the state is reviewing groundwater sulfolane cleanup requirements for contaminated areas off site. Sulfolane was found in wells near the refinery in 2009. DEC Commissioner Larry Hartig in April asked his department to reconsider its determination on a strict sulfolane cleanup threshold of 14 parts per billion. Flint Hills claims the cleanup level should be 362 parts per billion. A third-party risk assessment group that met with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) last month will deliver new recommendations in November.
Flint Hills announced in February it would shut down the refinery by June. The company said the decision was driven by the high cost of mitigating groundwater contamination it blames on Williams, the previous owner of the refinery.
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