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U.S. EPA HOLDS PUBLIC MEETING ON PURITY SUPERFUND SITE

Release Date: 8/2/1996
Contact Information: Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1587

     (San Francisco)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced it will hold a community meeting to discuss changes to the cleanup plans at the Purity Oil Sales Superfund site, Fresno, Calif.

     The public is invited to attend the informal meeting at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 6, 1996, at the Fresno County Central Library, 2420 Mariposa St., Fresno.

     U.S. EPA's cleanup strategy, selected in September 1992, calls for capping the site and treating contaminated soil below 14 feet with a soil vapor extraction system.  EPA now plans to reduce the number of soil vapor extraction wells after recent soil tests showed fewer wells would be just as effective.  The soil is contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, oil and grease, and a variety of metals.

     The seven-acre Purity site is a former oil reprocessing facility.  Used oil was taken to the Purity site for refining from businesses located throughout northern and central California such as service stations, automobile dealers, truck stops, electrical transformer yards, state and local governments, utilities and military facilities.  The used oil was refined at the site from 1934 to 1975, and waste pits up to ten feet deep covered most of the site.

     Contamination problems resulted from the improper storage and disposal of wastes such as oil acidic sludge.  Numerous surface spills also occurred during site operations.  In the early to mid-1970s, the site owner filled the waste pits with soil, debris, and rubble in an attempt to reduce odor problems.  The site was later abandoned.
 
     In 1982, the Purity site was added to the National Priorities list (NPL).  The NPL is U.S. EPA's list of hazardous waste sites potentially posing the greatest long-term threat to public health and the environment.  U.S. EPA identifies and ranks NPL sites according to threats to nearby populations through actual or potential contamination of groundwater, surface water, or air.
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