HollyFrontier Puget Sound Refinery

Facility Site ID: 7 Cleanup Site ID: 2865

What's Happening Now

Hazardous waste permit and Oily Water Sewer

We approved the Shell Puget Sound refinery's dangerous waste permit modification request and finalized the corrective action permit and Oily Water Sewer Agreed Order. Both were effective on Nov. 1, 2021 and transferred to HollyFrontier on Dec. 1, 2021.

Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) 55

The refinery has proposed building three new above ground petroleum storage tanks at this unit. Before this can take place, it must complete cleanup activities under Agreed Order 16081. This includes testing soils and removing them as necessary, and constructing containment berms and a clean soil cap.

Site Information

The refinery is located at 8505 South Texas Road in Anacortes, WA. It has the ability to process between 135,000 and 160,000 barrels of crude oil each day to make a variety of petroleum products. Learn more about current operations

Oily Water Sewer

The Oily Water Sewer (OWS) was built in 1957 and includes underground pipes, drain bugs, manholes, hatches, and other access points. While we're not aware of any current releases from the OWS, the Agreed Order requires the refinery to investigate and clean up any soil or groundwater contamination from this unit. Contaminants of concern include metals, volatile organics, and semi-volatile organics. 

Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) 55

SWMU 55 was originally started as a land treatment farm in 1973. It received waste until 1979 and then was inactive until 1985 when it was restarted as a nonhazardous waste land farm. The nonhazardous waste landfarm has received a wide variety of wastes including filter clays, polymerization catalysts, wastewater treatment sludges, refinery scale, oily wastes that were not ignitable, cooling tower sludge, cation exchange resins, FCCU catalyst, sandblast sand, water softener resin, air dryer desiccant, clay and sand filter media, and petroleum contaminated soil.

Potential releases of hazardous substances from this unit include total petroleum hydrocarbons, BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene), carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs), and mercury.

West Impounding Basin

Hydrocarbons were discovered in the refinery’s West Impounding Basin in 1990. The facility installed a light non-aqueous phase liquid recovery system to recover the hydrocarbons from the groundwater. Since the startup of the system, groundwater monitoring takes place quarterly and samples are collected every six months.  Contaminants of concern include 15 metals, volatile organics, and semi-volatile organics. 

Site use restrictions called institutional controls are in effect

Institutional controls can be fences, signs, or restrictions on how the property is used. For instance, an institutional control may prohibit installing drinking water wells or disturbing a protective cap that isolates contamination. These restrictions keep the contamination contained and keep people from being exposed to the contamination. The controls are usually listed in environmental covenants recorded with the county.

Periodic reviews are required when institutional controls are required at a site. Ecology conducts reviews to make sure the controls remain effective and the cleanup still protects human health and the environment. We conduct periodic reviews about every five years.

Environmental Covenant

County Recording #: 201007010071
County Recording Date: 7/1/2010

Restrictions/Requirements

  • Restrict Land Use

Restricted Media

  • Groundwater
  • Soil
Legal 9
Document Title Document Date Document Type
Shell Puget Sound Refinery Oily Water Sewer Agreed Order 16298 10/21/2021 Agreed Order
Shell Puget Sound Refinery SWMU 55 Agreed Order DE 16081 1/18/2019 Agreed Order
Shell Puget Sound Refinery Final PLP Letter 9/27/2018 Final Potentially Liable Person Status Letter
Shell-Puget-Sound-Refinery-Landfarms-Restrictive-Covenant 7/1/2010 Environmental Covenant; Alternative Mechanism
Texaco Oil Spill Restrictive Covenant Termination 4/17/2000 Environmental Covenant; Alternative Mechanism - Removed
Texaco Oil Spill Restrictive Covenant 1/7/1994 Environmental Covenant; Alternative Mechanism
Shell Puget Sound Refinery (formerly Texaco) Consent Decree 93-2-00913-8 8/18/1993 Consent Decree
Shell Puget Sound Refinery (formerly Texaco) Agreed Order 91-HSI092 amendment 10/3/1991 Agreed Order Amendment
Shell Puget Sound Refinery (formerly Texaco) Agreed Order 91-HSI092 7/30/1991 Agreed Order
Public Information 4
Document Title Document Date Document Type
Shell Puget Sound Refinery SWMU 55 Agreed Order 11/28/2018 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Texaco Oil Spill Public Notice of Removal from the Hazardous Sites List 11/11/1999 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Texaco Oil Spill Consent Decree satisfied delisting public notice 11/11/1999 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Texaco Oil Spill public notice of draft Consent Decree and Cleanup Action Plan 4/26/1993 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
State Environmental Policy Act 4
Technical Reports 22
Document Title Document Date Document Type
2022 Annual Report Sludge Disposal Facility Limited Purpose Landfill 2/27/2023 Site Specific Technical Document - other
2022 Annual Progress Report SWMU 1 Oily Water Sewer 2/27/2023 Site Specific Technical Document - other
2022 SWMU 55 Soil Pore and Groundwater Monitoring Report 12/20/2022 Groundwater Monitoring Report
2022 MTCA 10 Site Groundwater Monitoring Report 12/8/2022 Health and Safety Plan
HollyFrontier Refinery refinery oily water sewer investigation and response plan 6/15/2022 Site Specific Technical Document - other
HollyFrontier Refinery Dangerous Waste Corrective Action Permit 12/1/2021 Site Specific Technical Document - other
Shell Puget Sound Refinery Dangerous Waste Permit Modification Approval 10/21/2021 Site Specific Administrative Document - other (Administrative correspondence)
HollyFrontier Refinery Dangerous Waste Corrective Action Permit Fact Sheet 10/21/2021 Site Specific Technical Document - other
Shell Puget Sound Refinery SWMU 55 Interim Action Plan 10/11/2018 Interim Action Documents
Texaco Oil Spill Final Cleanup Closure Report 6/29/1999 Final Cleanup Action Report
Texaco Oil Spill Monks Property Correspondence on CD 93-2-00913-8 10/13/1998 Site Specific Administrative Document - other (Administrative correspondence)
Texaco Oil Spill Final Report on Completion of Cleanup - Part 6 8/4/1995 Final Cleanup Action Report
Texaco Oil Spill Final Report on Completion of Cleanup - Part 5 8/4/1995 Final Cleanup Action Report
Texaco Oil Spill Final Report on Completion of Cleanup - Part 4 8/4/1995 Final Cleanup Action Report
Texaco Oil Spill Final Report on Completion of Cleanup - Part 3 8/4/1995 Final Cleanup Action Report
Texaco Oil Spill Final Report on Completion of Cleanup - Part 2 8/4/1995 Final Cleanup Action Report
Texaco Oil Spill Final Report on Completion of Cleanup - Part 1 8/4/1995 Final Cleanup Action Report
Texaco Oil Spill CD 93-2-00913-8 Cleanup Complete 3/31/1994 Site Specific Administrative Document - other (Administrative correspondence)
Texaco Anacortes Refinery 1991/92 Oil Spill Cleanup Complete Letter 3/15/1994 Site Specific Technical Document - other
Texaco Oil Spill Report on Completion of Remedial Activities 1/10/1994 Final Cleanup Action Report
Texaco Oil Spill Cleanup Action Plan 5/25/1993 Cleanup Action Plan
Texaco Oil Spill Fidalgo Bay Test Remediation Plan Approval 6/6/1991 Site Specific Technical Document - other
There may be more documents related to this site. To obtain documents not available electronically, you will need to make a public records request.

Contaminants 9

Contaminant Type
Soil
Groundwater
Surface Water
Air
Sediment
Bedrock
Metals - Metals - Other S S
Non-Halogenated Organics - Petroleum Products-Unspecified C C C
Non-Halogenated Organics - Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons C S
Metals - Mercury C
Non-Halogenated Organics - Benzene S S
Non-Halogenated Organics - Other Non-Halogenated Organics S S
Non-Halogenated Organics - Petroleum-Diesel S S
Non-Halogenated Organics - Petroleum-Gasoline S S
Non-Halogenated Organics - Petroleum-Other C
S
Suspected
C
Confirmed Above Cleanup Levels
B
Below Cleanup Levels
RA
Remediated-Above
RB
Remediated-Below
R
Remediated
This contaminant list was based on our best information at the time it was entered. It may not reflect current conditions at the site.