An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Plains Marketing LP (Formerly: Western Refining Yorktown) in Yorktown, Virginia

On this page:


Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action are carried out under an Administrative Consent Order entered between EPA and BP in November 4, 1991.

    Cleanup Status

    The final remedy has been selected for this Facility and the majority of the construction of the soils portion of the remedy is complete. EPA prepared and released its Final Decision and Response to Comments for the selected cleanup approach for the Facility on March 31, 2004. The selected remedy required the excavation, consolidation and capping of soils, sludge materials and sediments with concentrations of contaminants above remedial goals within the footprint of two former land farms. These land farms were designated as Corrective Action Management Units (“CAMUs”) to facilitate the cleanup of the Facility and address both closure and corrective action requirements. Institutional controls have been established to prevent current and future potential exposure to contamination, as well as any activities that would impair the integrity of the remedy. The selected remedy for groundwater called for a three-phase approach to be implemented with the consolidation of impacted soils in the CAMU however this work has been delayed. We expect to begin Facility-wide groundwater work in late 2012.

    The first phase of remedy construction was completed between 2007 and 2008. In September 2007, the Refinery ownership changed and additional time was requested to refine and finalize the design for phase two of the remedy. The second phase of construction of the soil remedy was completed between July 2010 and September 2011. Phase two of the remedy construction included stabilization of petroleum sludge and impacted soils and sediments, and the inspection, cleaning and repair of an oily water sewer that exists at the Facility. The majority of this work as well as the remaining soil remediation and CAMU construction were completed in September 2011. Operation and maintenance activities required for the CAMU covers have been ongoing since late 2008 for CAMU East and since September 2011 for CAMU West. These activities are expected to be ongoing for several years.

    Additional work required to monitor groundwater at the CAMU sites and to delineate and remediate localized groundwater contamination on a Facility-wide basis will be ongoing for several years.

        Top of Page


        Site Description

        Interactive Map of Plains Marketing LP (Formerly: Western Refining Yorktown), Grafton, VA

        View larger map

        The former Western Refining Yorktown Incorporated Facility covers 600 acres and is located in Yorktown, Virginia on the north side of the Goodwin Neck Peninsula. The Yorktown Refinery was constructed in the mid -1950's and the first process unit came on-line in November 1956. In the fall of 2010, Western decided to idle the Refinery production operations due to economic factors. On December 29, 2011 ownership of the Facility was transferred from Western to Plains Marketing, L.P., a subsidiary of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. The new owner intends to operate the Facility as a storage and distribution terminal. The Facility also has an industrial/solid waste landfill that has been permitted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

        The former refinery is bounded by the York River on the north and east, by Back Creek on the south, by Virginia Power Company’s power station on the west, and by Bull Creek and a wooded area to the east. Back Creek Park is located southeast of the Facility, and consists of athletic fields and a public boat ramp. Several residences are situated in the immediate vicinity of the Facility (within one quarter mile) to the east, west and south.

        Top of Page


        Contaminants at this Facility

        The primary contaminants in the soil, surface water and groundwater are petroleum hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene and xylene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenols, and heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, and cadmium.

        Top of Page


        Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility

        Institutional Controls for the site include:

        • Prohibition of residential land use
        • Use of groundwater for drinking is prohibited
        • Disturbance of the land caps on the SWMUs and Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU)

        Top of Page


        Land Reuse Information at this Facility

        The facility is under continued use.

        Top of Page


        Site Responsibility at this Facility

        RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility are being conducted under the direction of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality with assistance from EPA Region 3.

        Top of Page