Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Kinder Morgan Liquid Terminals, LLC in Staten Island, New York

Site Description

Kinder Morgan Terminal is a petroleum bulk storage and distribution facility which began operations in 1934 and continues today. The facility is located on the eastern shoreline of the Arthur Kill, Staten Island, City of New York, and is bounded to the north and the west by the Arthur Kill, to the south by Charleston (a residential area), and to the east by the Clay Pit Pond State Park Preserve.

The site was sold to Kinder Morgan Liquids Terminals, LLC (EPA ID # NYR000132779) in 2005.

The residential area includes an elementary school located within a half mile of the facility to the southeast, and the north and northeast surrounding area are zoned industrial by the City of New York. The site encompasses approximately 203 acres, of which 120 acres are used for petroleum storage and transfer operations. The current storage capacity at the facility is approximately 125 million gallons (2.98 million barrels) with an annual throughput of approximately 1.4 billion gallons (33.3 million barrels).

The operations at the facility include 40 above-ground tanks for the storage of petroleum products on site. Each of the 40 tanks is approximately 30 to 60 feet in height and most are placed in three rows approximately 200 feet apart and extend along the southern boundary of the facility in an area known as the "Tank Farm".

Directly northwest of the Tank Farm and adjacent to the Arthur Kill Road are two RCRA regulated surface impoundments, also known as the Upper and Lower Holding Ponds. On September 30, 2005, EPA approved the closure of these surface impoundments upon the condition that soil and/or groundwater underneath the two impoundments be investigated and remediated (if warranted) at a later date as part of the corrective action process.

The surface impoundments are being used for managing precipitation induced runoff only. Adjacent to the surface impoundments is the North Beach Recovery Area (Area 3) which was remediated in the 1980s under the authority of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Spill Response Program with residual contamination left in place at that time. This area will be further treated in 2017.

At the western end of the facility, adjacent to the Arthur Kill, are numerous berths for the unloading and loading of maritime vessels which travel through the Arthur Kill. This area is referred to as the "Bulkhead Area" and runs from north to south along the western edge of the facility.

The facility also receives petroleum products from the Colonial Pipeline which runs from Texas to New Jersey. A secondary pipeline runs under the Arthur Kill Road to the facility and is generally above ground inside the facility.

Portions of the facility are within the 100 Year Floodplain. The Surface Impoundments are located above the floodplain as are the tanks and associated containment areas. In addition, the area surrounding the surface impoundments has been graded such that the top surface of the impoundments is above the surrounding ground level. RCRA toxicity-characteristic hazardous waste was stored in these surface impoundments in the past.

The Final RCRA Facility Assessment (RFA) Report issued in July 1993 identified 62 solid waste management units (SWMUs) and 1 area of concern (AOC) at the facility.

Waters within Arthur Kill are designated by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as SD Class (saline surface water) with restricted use (mostly fishing). The nearest drinking water well is 10 miles away. For purposes of investigation and remediation, the facility was divided into three remedial areas; the Bulkhead area, the Tank Farm area, and the SI/North Beach Area.

Additionally, the facility maintains and operates an above ground piping network to transfer petroleum products throughout the operating portion of the site. Until 1993, the facility has provided barge emptying services, and resulting wastewater was stored in the surface impoundments. 

Contaminants at this Facility

The primary compounds of concern include benzene, total BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes), total PAHs (such as naphthalene), and lead. In addition, the RFI confirmed the presence of light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) near three existing wells (LC-1, LC-2, and RFI-9), and five Geoprobe points. The 1998 RFI Report concluded that these pockets of LNAPL posed an immediate threat to the Arthur Kill. 

Site Responsibility at this Facility

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Program of EPA Region 2 has the responsibility to ensure corrective action at the facility. On October 2, 1995, EPA issued a 3013 Order to conduct a soil and groundwater investigation of the site and to assess the impact of contamination migrating into the Arthur Kill River. The Order also requires that Kinder Morgan demonstrate to EPA that it has correctly installed and is maintaining a groundwater monitoring system around the surface impoundments. On September 10, 2009, EPA issued a 3008(h) Order to cleanup the site.