Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

Township and Range: SE 1/4 Section 35, Township 12N, Range 3W; SW 1/4 Section 36, Township 12N, Range 3W

Latitude/Longitude: 35.46763056, -97.47736667

Site Type: Abandoned Refinery

Area: 0.019 square miles/12 acres

National Priorities List: Final Deletion Date – August 21, 2008

Current Status: Cleanup complete

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Cleanup Oversight Agencies: DEQ and EPA

Lead Agency: DEQ

Office: DEQ, Land Protection Division, (405) 702-5100

DEQ Site Project Manager: Makenna Hartman, (405) 702-5159

DEQ Press Contact: Erin Hatfield, (405) 702-7119

Site History and Background:

The Double Eagle Site is located southwest of the Fourth Street Abandoned Refinery Superfund Site.  The site recycled used motor oil into finished lubricating oil.  The refinery was active as early as 1929.  Generally, early refining was conducted on the western portion of the site and expanded toward the eastern portion as the operations increased.  The Double Eagle site recycled approximately 500,000 to 600,000 gallons of used motor oil per month.  The recycling process used sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and bleaching clays to separate the desired oil product from the heavy tars. This process generated roughly 80,000 gallons of corrosive and toxic sludge each month.  Initially, contaminated sludges were sent to an off-site disposal facility, now the Hardage-Criner Superfund Site located in Criner, Oklahoma.  Sludges were later disposed of in on-site impoundments and a sludge lagoon until the late 1960s to early 1970s.  Double Eagle continued to accept waste oil for storage in on-site storage tanks until 1980.

Cleanup History:

The major components of the Double Eagle Source Control Selected Remedy included:

• Excavation of the contaminated material in the Radio Tower Area
• Combining of contaminated Radio Tower and Double Eagle material
• On-site stabilization of 44,000 cubic yards of the consolidated material to remove the hazardous characteristics of the contaminants, used lime, and kiln dust
• Disposal of the stabilized material in the permitted, East Oak Landfill (OKC)
• Demolition of on-site structures (nine buildings & 59 tanks) and disposal of the asbestos insulation at an approved landfill

Cleanup Status:

• The cleanup was completed in 2000, which protects approximately 32,000 people living within three miles of the site
• The site was deleted from the National Priorities List in August 2008

Did you Know?

A pit onsite had such a low pH (less than 2.5) that objects thrown into it would eventually dissolve and disappear.

Land Use Restrictions:

A deed notice was filed to notify land owners of the hazards associated with the contaminated ground water in the area.  The deed notice also restricted land to commercial/industrial uses and prohibited ground water use.

Regulatory Profile:

Sources of Contamination: Prior to the cleanup, the Double Eagle Site contained a sludge lagoon, six smaller earthen impoundments, 13 steel buildings, one fire tube boiler, two pipe heat exchangers, five vacuum pre-coat/scrapper filters, two concrete settling cells, and about 100 steel tanks of various sizes.  The tanks contained residual sludge, and most equipment was contaminated to various degrees.  One of the concrete cells contained residual waste material mixed with rainwater.  The Double Eagle Site contributed to off-site contamination in an area just south of the site, known as the “Radio Tower Area.”  The contamination at the Radio Tower Area consisted of a tar matrix, which covered approximately 0.25 acres.

Contaminants of Concern: Lead, acid, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene), and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Media Affected: The property was contaminated with metals and organic contaminants in the soil, sediment, and ground water.  The site also contained acid sludge found in on-site lagoons and pits.

Ground Water Impacted: Both the Double Eagle and Fourth Street Superfund Sites contribute to ground water contamination of the Garber Sandstone Formation (non-potable shallow aquifer), with brine (high levels of sodium, total dissolved solids, and chlorides).  The deed notice prohibits the use of ground water.