Client: Confidential
Location: Northern Montana
Project Overview: Trihydro has provided environmental compliance and assistance since 1997 associated with the assessment, demolition, remediation, and management of a former petroleum refinery located in northern Montana. The refinery ceased operations in 1961. Third party owners of the former refinery scrapped some of the steel and demolished portions of the facility. Petroleum sludge pits and the remnants of the former refinery structures, units, and tanks were unsightly.

Trihydro prepared a Voluntary Cleanup Plan (VCP) for the site, which was subsequently approved by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). VCP activities included removal of underground piping (over 32,000 linear feet) and removal of surface and subsurface foundations, structures, debris, and rubble left at the site (approximately 22,500 tons of material). Debris and non-transmission piping was placed in a Construction/Demolition Landfill. In addition, approximately 180,000 cubic yards of impacted soils (hydrocarbon contamination including hazardous concentrations of lead and benzene) were excavated, consolidated, stabilized using cement kiln dust, and placed in two onsite landfills, designed by Trihydro. Asbestos materials were identified and removed from the site in accordance with applicable rules and regulations and transported to a certified landfill for disposal.

The stabilized waste landfills were contoured for natural drainage and revegetated with native grasses. The site has been largely returned to pre-refinery conditions and no longer resembles a former refinery. Current property owners use the property for a variety of uses including residential, livestock grazing, and light industrial.

Trihydro personnel provided field supervision and construction inspection services for the duration of the project and were responsible for the collection and evaluation of all sampling, monitoring, and reporting to ensure compliance with the approved workplan. Trihydro also developed and is currently implementing an inspection manual for the landfills.

Trihydro established good working relationships with a number of different agencies during the project including the MDEQ, the Game and Fish Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, the local city council, and the local school board. Trihydro obtained the necessary permits for the project including a construction storm water permit and necessary landfill permits. We prepared a storm water erosion control plan, and filed a No Migration Petition, which exempted the client from long-term monitoring of the stabilized waste landfills. In addition, Trihydro submitted a Nationwide Permit for Wetlands work with the Corps of Engineers, which included a detailed floodplain analysis and received approval to conduct the requested activities.