2012 — Number 1 - ExxonMobil

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Proactive remediation Among those restored properties are sites where fertilizer had been manufactured, stored or transported as far back as the late 19th century. “Fertilizer manufacturing was an important industry in helping the South recover from the American Civil War,” says Robert Jackmore, EMES area manager. “Unfortunately, it also created undesirable byproducts, including lead and arsenic.” Following a historical investigation of the old fertilizer sites in the 1990s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the Virginia Carolina Chemical Corporation (VCC) had assets that were part of the South’s fertilizer industry since the 1920s. Socony Mobil and VCC merged in 1963. Although Socony Mobil’s successor, Mobil Oil Corporation, sold VCC in 1970, Mobil later determined it had historic liability for VCC under U.S. “Superfund” environmental laws. 23 “In May 2001, the EPA identified 24 properties that it ruled required investigation and possibly remediation,” says Jackmore. “However, we decided to proactively respond and determine if there were likely more VCC properties that warranted review. After working in conjunction with the EPA, the targeted list ultimately became 38 VCC sites.” Best-in-class with EPA As of mid-2011, ExxonMobil, working in cooperation with the EPA and state regulators, had either completed remediation or had action plans for the majority of these properties. Equally important, the EMES VCC project team has been proactive in keeping impacted communities informed. In July of that year, the EPA honored ExxonMobil with an invitation to present its VCC program at the agency’s Community Involvement Training Conference. The workshop is held every other year to identify best practices to more effectively engage communities about environmental issues. “That invitation essentially recognized our project as bestin-class,” says Jackmore. “It confirmed the benefit of having all elements, from technical remediation through property management, legal and community affairs, working side by side to get the job done right. When you do it right, you build trust, and when you build trust, you build corporate credentials and reputation.” A master plan in Wedel In Germany, the city of Wedel had its sights set on acquiring 45 acres of property along the Elbe River. Refining and lubes blending had occurred on the land dating back to 1907. Operations ceased with the bombing of the plants during World War II. An ExxonMobil affiliate rebuilt the refinery in the 1950s and activity continued until 1998, when the company closed the site and sold it to a major commercial developer. The developer subsequently went bankrupt, and the property was returned to This artist’s rendering shows a planned retail center and business offices where ExxonMobil once operated the Baltimore Refinery. ExxonMobil to conduct a longterm remediation plan. “As the cleanup continued, we entered into negotiations with the city of Wedel, which saw our property as an important part of its master plan,” says Jackmore. “Eventually, ExxonMobil and the city of Wedel agreed that it would purchase the property at a price reflecting the cost of remediation. Wedel would take over the remaining remediation, indemnify ExxonMobil against future environmental claims, and prohibit residential use of the land. The city, working with ExxonMobil, later secured regulatory approval for an updated remediation proposal based on the city’s planned future use.” Jackmore attributes the successful negotiations to having a complete toolbox of resources all available within EMES, including technical expertise to work the remediation plan details as well as business and property experts to evaluate future land use and value effectively. “The result was that we
The coffee’s on at Greenpoint At ExxonMobil Environmental Services’ remediation project in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, it’s almost always open house. The company is recovering petroleum product in an area where predecessor companies maintained refining and terminal operations extending back more than 100 years. Since the project began, ExxonMobil has removed more than 8 million gallons of product. “The Greenpoint team works hard to ensure the community has the information it needs about what we are doing,” says Barbara Leatherwood, EMES Public and Government Affairs manager. “Our neighbors are welcome behind the gates to tour our operation and ask questions over a cup of coffee.” The project also sends a newsletter to its neighbors, including a Polish version for Greenpoint’s large Polish community, and maintains a website. “In addition, we strive to be a productive part of Greenpoint’s civic and business fabric,” says Leatherwood. “For example, the television and film industry has a large presence in the neighborhood. When shows are in production, parking on residential streets is limited. To ease the problem, we offered up to 250 parking spaces on our property for people working across the street on CBS’s The Good Wife.” Beyond the neighborhood, the project serves as a field lab for environmental engineering students from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Classes of cadets annually tour the project to learn firsthand about the remediation program and its advanced engineering technology. arrived at mutually beneficial solutions that preserved productive use of the property for the good of the local economy.” Closer shopping in Baltimore The days when residents of East Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood have to travel 30 to 40 minutes to shop at a major retail store are nearing an end. A developer is pursuing permits to build on parcels that once were part of ExxonMobil’s Baltimore refinery and products terminal. A shop- To learn more exxonmobil.com/ greenpoint Photo by A.E. Fletcher Photography ping mall, offices and town center are expected to follow. ExxonMobil ceased operations at the site in 1998. Remediation, including product recovery, screening soils and pulling pipe, has been completed on the main terminal parcel, where the mall complex is planned. Much of the original acreage has already been sold and developed. In September 2011, EMES, together with the Maryland Department of the Environment, prepared a presentation about West Point cadets tour ExxonMobil’s Greenpoint remediation project in Brooklyn, New York, with (from left) Steve Trifiletti, EMES project manager, Justin Kennedy, senior engineer/project manager, Roux Associates, and Kristin Mobyed, EMES project manager. the Baltimore project for the EPA Region 3 Technical Workshop. The presentation served as an example of how industry and state agencies can cooperatively develop a remediation solution for a complex site in an area of redevelopment. “Meanwhile, a variety of activities are in progress,” says Tom Aruta, EMES Baltimore project manager. “We continue to work with the developer so he can move forward on his construction plans. We’re also upgrad- ing a major city storm drain and working with the city on a planned light-rail extension.” Aruta notes that EMES has made keeping up with all of these activities much easier. “We don’t have to hunt for the right person when an issue surfaces. The real estate, environmental law, engineering, public and government affairs, and other resources are assembled right here in EMES.” the Lamp 24
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2012 — Number 1 - ExxonMobil

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