I currently reside in Siena Place near the borderline of the refinery. I just want to know is it safe to live there in terms of Air quality and in regards to the plume status. Recently, I have smelled Gas outside approximately on A few occasions near the end of July and don’t know if that is from the refinery or cleanup process as the refinery is not currently operating.

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The refining operations were shut down in 2019; however, Evergreen is unaware of other site activities that have taken place at the facility since that time, so we are unsure of the source of any odors. PES operated the site and would have the information pertaining to air emission data. In addition, the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Air Management Services may also be able to provide... read more

I read that Benzene levels were 30 times higher than permitted, putting them on par with levels you would see in 3rd world countries like India. Also watchdog websites went black in the weeks leading up to the explosion. There was no data available to the public in the weeks leading up to the explosion.

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Evergreen is responsible for managing the environmental investigation and cleanup of soil and groundwater from impacts that occurred before PES purchased the site in 2012. PES operated the site and would have the information pertaining to air emission data. In addition, the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Air Management Services may also be able to provide additional air quality data from that... read more

Right now there is a very strange smell outside. I am inclined to believe it may be emissions from your site. If so, what could it be?

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The operation of the site has been under the direction of Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) since the sale of the site in 2012 from Sunoco to PES, so Evergreen/Sunoco has not been involved in site operations since that time. In addition, operations at the former Philadelphia Refinery by PES were shut down in 2019, so we are unsure of what smell you are referring to. The City of Philadelphia does maintain air... read more

If there are risks to people I would like to be provided with information which will allow me to identify if something in your process has gone poorly and if I need to take further precaution to keep myself and my family safe.

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Evergreen interprets this question as potentially being in reference to the ongoing demolition and construction processes, which would be the responsibility of the new property owner.  However, with respect to Evergreen’s responsibility to investigate and remediate soil and groundwater contamination, the route of exposure to nearby communities would be potential indoor or outdoor air impacts from dissolved... read more

I am wondering if you are able to send out updates about what plans are being carried out when. For instance, if you are cleaning a particular thing, I’d like to know ahead of time when that cleaning will take place and what the risks to the surrounding environment/people are.

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Evergreen is in the process of finishing the investigation activities at the former Philadelphia Refinery to identify the extent of the chemicals in soil and groundwater, in order to ultimately develop remediation (cleanup) plans for the site. During this process, Evergreen will develop reports and hold public meetings, both of which will have public notices. Throughout the process, we will post information to the... read more

What are the biggest environmental concerns with the water moving forward as this space is transitioned to a mixed-use industrial site?

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In general, water concerns remain the same between use of the site as a refinery and the proposed use. As part of the Act 2 process, groundwater quality must be investigated as well as migration of and risks associated with the contaminants identified. The groundwater beneath the site is not allowed to be used for any potable (human consumption) or industrial use; therefore, the direct exposure to groundwater... read more

Has NJ DEP been involved with any issues on the NJ side of the Delaware River? Have public and municipal water companies in NJ been notified about pollution in the PRM Aquifer water supply? Have they been notified about AOI 11 efforts by PA DEP and EPA?

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The NJDEP is routinely involved with groundwater investigations of the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer (PRM)  due to source areas located in New Jersey that are not related to impacts in AOI 11. There has been no demonstrated connection between groundwater impacts in AOI 11 due to past refinery operations and the PRM groundwater quality in New Jersey. As such, the NJDEP has not been involved with cleanup of the... read more

Have there been any studies on the effect of the pollution of the PRM in the water supply in NJ, as public and private water companies draw water from it and Phila stopped using it in the 1990’s because it was too polluted?

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Evergreen is not aware of any available studies that evaluate the fate and transport of petroleum hydrocarbon chemicals in groundwater from the site into New Jersey groundwater.  Evergreen plans to complete fate and transport modeling with a numerical groundwater model, which will evaluate the potential migration of petroleum-related chemicals from both the water-table aquifer (AOIs 1-10) and lower aquifer (AOI... read more

What effect has pollution been in the last 7 years since the last reports on AOI 11 were issued on 6/21/2013? We understand that contamination has reached the deep aquifer (area of interest 11), which means we need to clean the water too. We’ve learned from the Clean Air Council that “while Evergreen has made available semiannual groundwater reports through the first half of 2020, that information is not part of the reports open for public comment”.

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New groundwater data for AOI 11 has been collected since 2013 and it is presented in the Remedial Investigation Reports for each of the other Areas of Interest. Overall, most groundwater conditions in the lower groundwater (AOI 11) have been demonstrated to be stable to improving for petroleum-related compounds since the 2013 RIR was submitted.  Data collected annually from sampling events conducted after the... read more