Treoil Industries

Updated: March 2025

Read the Fact Sheet 

Ecology invites you to review the following documents for the cleanup of the Treoil Industries site.

• Remedial Investigation: Details the types and locations of contamination at the site.
• Feasibility Study: Explains the different cleanup methods, called alternatives, including Ecology’s preferred cleanup alternative.
• Public Participation Plan: Describes how Ecology will inform the community about the site activities and ways to become involved.

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Ecology will consider all comments received during this public comment period and may make changes to the documents. If the documents require significant changes, we will hold another public comment period. If no significant changes are made, Ecology will finalize the documents. The draft cleanup action plan will be available for review during a future public comment period.

Join our email list to receive updates about the Treoil Industries cleanup site. Email Kristen Forkeutis, Public Involvement Coordinator, at Kristen.Forkeutis@ecy.wa.gov to be added to the list. Unsubscribe at any time.

The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) is Washington’s environmental cleanup law. It provides requirements for contaminated site cleanup and sets standards that protect human health and the environment. Ecology enacts MTCA and oversees cleanups. The MTCA site cleanup process is completed in steps over a variable timeline.

Current Treoil Industries cleanup site Public Participation Plan

This plan describes how Ecology will share information with the community and how you can share information with us. Ecology will review this plan as the cleanup progresses and amend/update it as necessary.

The Treoil Industries cleanup site is located in unincorporated Whatcom County, northwest of Ferndale and south of Blaine. It is approximately two miles east of the Strait of Georgia and four miles northwest of the Lummi Indian Reservation.

The site is part of a 34-acre property owned by Jagroop S. Gill and Campbell Land Corporation. A 3.5-acre section of the property has been used since the 1980s for numerous industrial operations. This primarily included processing tall oil, a byproduct of kraft paper production. Biodiesel production and other small-scale industrial operations also took place. Over the decades, the property accumulated a large amount of dangerous wastes — toxic, corrosive, ignitable, or reactive substances — that were left unsecured and often improperly stored.

1989–2016: Starting in 1989 a record of spills and poor maintenance operations began at the site. This prompted Ecology’s Water Quality Program, Ecology’s Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program, and Whatcom County Health and Community Services to perform site inspections and assessments. During this period, the property was placed on Ecology’s Contaminated Site List for confirmed contamination and was referred to as the Treoil Industries site. Ecology issued a legal administrative order in 2015, requiring them to properly identify, manage, and dispose of the waste.

2017: Ecology determined that the site did not meet the requirements of the administrative order. The dangerous waste storage conditions had deteriorated, causing risks to human health and the environment.

At Ecology’s request, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deployed an emergency response team, which removed:

• 93,000 gallons of liquid tall oil and tall oil derivative
wastes

• 275 tons of contaminated soil, sludge and debris
• 6,750 gallons of crude glycerin
• 430 containers, 35 drums and nine cylinders of hazardous
chemicals

• Eight cubic yards of asbestos containing material

Some areas of the site remained a concern, with spill protection measures added where possible.

2022: Ecology inspectors obtained court-ordered access to the site and found conditions were similar to or worse than before the 2017 cleanup. The EPA conducted a second action, which removed:

• 97,400 gallons of oily liquid from secondary containment
• 18,000 gallons of hazardous liquids
• 3,316 tons of solidified material
• 4,800 gallons of pumpable oily material
• 1,890 gallons of corrosive liquids
• Eight cubic yards of solidified hazardous materials

The EPA also demolished multiple large above-ground storage tanks, containment areas, and other structures that were being illegally used to store dangerous waste.

In addition, Whatcom County Health and Community Services removed old cars that were dumped on the site.

The 2017 and 2022 cleanup actions cost a total of approximately $4.3 million.

2023–2024: 

• Ecology issued a $900,000 penalty (see news release) to Jagroop S. Gill, Campbell Land Corp., at the Treoil Industries site for failure to comply with WA’s dangerous waste laws.
• Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program finalized a contract with consulting firm Haley & Aldrich (HA) to begin the formal cleanup process under MTCA.
• HA began to study the site (remedial investigation) and consider cleanup options (feasibility study).
• As of December 2024, additional abandoned vehicles, garbage, debris, and other signs of illegal use have been observed on the property.

Beginning in 2023, investigations found the following contaminants were present at levels that exceeded standards under the state’s cleanup law, MTCA.

• Soil: Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), pentachlorophenol, a Semi-volatile Organic Compound, and metals (primarily chromium, copper, and lead)
• Groundwater: None
• Surface Water: None

• Ecology Site Inspection Summary (March 2000) 
• Ecology Site Hazard Assessment (February 2001) 
• Ecology Compliance Inspection Report (August 2006) 
• Ecology Initial Investigation Report (June 2014) 
• Ecology Compliance Inspection Report (October 2014)
• Ecology Administrative Order (July 2015) 
• Ecology Amended Administrative Order (September 2015) 
• EPA Assessment and Emergency Removal Final Trip Report (November 2017) 
• Ecology RI work plan (June 2022)
• EPA removal action report (February 2023)

Español

Le ofrecemos servicios de traducción e interpretación sin costo. Para solicitar una copia de esta información en español, llame a Kristen Forkeutis al 425-240-4353 o envíe un correo electrónico a kristen.forkeutis@ecy.wa.gov. Si necesita servicios de interpretación, solicite un intérprete y permanezca en la línea mientras lo comunicamos.

Русский

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ਪੰਜਾਬੀ

ਅਸੀਂ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਮੁਫ਼ਤ ਅਨੁਵਾਦ ਅਤੇ ਦੁਭਾਸ਼ੀਕਰਨ ਸੇਵਾਵਾਂ ਪ੍ਰਦਾਨ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਾਂ। ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਇਸ ਜਾਣਕਾਰੀ ਦੀ ਇੱਕ ਕਾਪੀ ਦੀ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਸਤੇ, Kristen Forkeutis ਨੂੰ 425-240-4353 'ਤੇ ਕਾਲ ਜਾਂ kristen.forkeutis@ecy.wa.gov 'ਤੇ ਈਮੇਲ ਕਰੋ। ਜੇਕਰ ਦੁਭਾਸ਼ੀਆ ਸੇਵਾਵਾਂ ਲਈ ਕਾਲ ਕਰ ਰਹੇ ਹੋ, ਤਾਂ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਕਰਕੇ ਇੱਕ ਦੁਭਾਸ਼ੀਏ ਦੀ ਮੰਗ ਕਰੋ ਅਤੇ ਜਦੋਂ ਤੱਕ ਅਸੀਂ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਕਨੈਕਟ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਾਂ ਲਾਈਨ 'ਤੇ ਰਹੋ।

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