Former Coastal Refinery, El Dorado Site

The Former Coastal Refinery El Dorado Site Facility is located at 1835 North Topeka Street on the northern outskirts of the City of El Dorado, Kansas. It encompasses approximately 420 acres and includes portions of Sections 26, 27, and 34, Township 25 South, Range 5 East in Butler County, Kansas. The site contains several subareas: the former Main Process Area (MPA), the former Asphalt Handling Area (AHA) to the west, Wastewater/Stormwater Ponds to the east, and the former South Tank Farm (STF) located due south of the former refinery. The West Branch Walnut River (WBWR) defines the northeastern boundary of the Site. The Site does not include the adjacent Pester Burn Pond Superfund Site (C2-008-00058), which is located north of the Wastewater/Stormwater Ponds.


  1. Background
  2. Remediation
  3. Documents

Site Background

The oil refinery was operated by various entities between 1917 and 1993. El Paso Merchant Energy-Petroleum Company (El Paso) acquired the facility in 2001. Asphalt blending and terminal operations contiThe former refinery in the 1980s with clusters of large aboveground storage tanksnued until 2004. Between 2004 and 2010 El Paso decommissioned and demolished the refinery structures.

In February 2003, El Paso entered into a Consent Order with KDHE to conduct a Comprehensive Investigation (CI)/Corrective Action Study (CAS). A phased approach for completing site investigation activities was initiated. Phase I was conducted from 2003-2004, Phase II was conducted from 2004-2006, and Phase III was completed in 2009 with the submittal of the Third Phase CI Report dated September 2009. Investigations identified elevated concentrations of refinery-related contaminants in soil and groundwater. The primary contaminants of concern (COC) include petroleum-related compounds: benzene, naphthalene, total petroleum hydrocarbons; select volatile organic compounds (VOCs); and isolated impacts from metals contamination related to former activities. The investigation and characterization data collected were used to support a transition to the Risk Assessment and Corrective Action phases of the project.

Risk assessment activities were performed as part of the CI between 2008-2012. In July 2011, a Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment (BERA) for the MPA and AHA areas was approved by the KDHE followed by a Final Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) and a separate BERA for the WBWR and STF areas in March 2012.