Dorchester Refining Company

The Dorchester Refining Company site is located on the west border of the city of Mount Pleasant in the 1700 block of West First Street. The site is bordered by the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad on the south, suburban areas to the west and north, Conoco to the northeast and a residential area to the southeast. Dorchester Refining was an active facility under several owners from 1936 to 1984, producing gasoline, diesel and asphalt products. In late 1984, Dorchester Refining sold off the storage tanks and bulk terminal. The property and refining equipment was purchased by Trey Corporation. Trey Corporation completed a Chapter 7 liquidation in November 2000. Numerous notices of violations were filed against the site for releases of hazardous substances into Tankersley Creek, which flows into Big Cypress Creek, a documented wetland and fishery area. From 1995 through 2003, efforts to get the site owners to take part in the cleanup of the contamination brought no results. The site was referred to Superfund for investigation and cleanup.

Superfund Actions Taken to Date: (skip to most current action)

• December 2003, a copy of the hazard ranking system (HRS) documentation record was prepared for the Dorchester Refining Company site. [Read the text of the hazard ranking system summary in PDF. ( Help with PDF.) The PDF file does not include illustrations or copies of documents cited. The complete HRS record is available as part of official repository records at the Mount Pleasant Library and at the TCEQ Records Management Center.]
• May 2004, a potentially responsible party conducted a limited removal at the site, including overpacking leaking containers, staging drums in a covered, secured building on site, site mowing, and inspecting and repairing the fence as necessary to provide adequate site security.
• February 2005, a community relations plan was prepared for the Dorchester Refining Company site. [Read the text of community relations plan in PDF. ( Help with PDF.) The PDF file does not include illustrations or copies of documents cited as references. The complete community relations plan is available as part of official repository records at the Mount Pleasant Public Library and at the TCEQ Records Management Center.]
• May 20, 2005, legal notices were published in the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune and the Texas Register (27 TexReg 6575) describing the site, proposing the site for listing in the state Superfund registry, and also proposing commercial/industrial land use specifications for remediation of the site contamination. The nonresidential land use designation may be considered in any remedial action proposed for the site. [Read the text of the legal notice in PDF. ( Help with PDF.) The PDF file does not include illustrations or copies of documents cited.] A public meeting to receive citizen comments will be held in the Walnut Room of the Mount Pleasant Civic Center on June 23, 2005.
• May 13, 2005, TCEQ began mailing out letters requesting potentially responsible parties to enter into an agreed order to perform or pay for a remedial investigation and feasibility study at the site.
• June 23, 2005, a public meeting was held at the Mount Pleasant Civic Center to receive citizen comments on the proposal to list the Dorchester Refining Company site on the state Superfund registry and also proposing nonresidential land use specifications for remediation of the site contamination. There were no challenges to the proposal to list or the use of nonresidential standards in the planned remedial action.
• November 28, 2005, TCEQ received a good faith offer from a potentially responsible party to conduct the remedial investigation and feasibility study.
• January 2006, the grass at the site was mowed and the fence was repaired.
• February 13, 2006, a draft of the agreed administrative order was sent to the potentially responsible party for review.
• March 15, 2006, TCEQ mailed notification letters to additional potentially responsible parties.
• April 2006, the grass at the site was mowed and the fence was repaired.
• August 2006, the property was purchased by Lone Wolf Land Company, a subsidiary of TOTAL Petrochemicals USA, Inc.
• June 15, 2007, legal notices were published in the Texas Register (32 TexReg 3731), and the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune, proposing to delete the site from the state Superfund registry. [Read the text of the legal notice in PDF. ( Help with PDF.) The PDF file does not include illustrations or copies of documents cited.] A public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. July 19 at Mount Pleasant Junior High School.
• June 27, 2007, letters of acceptance into the TCEQ Voluntary Cleanup Program were sent to TOTAL Petrochemicals USA, Inc. and SemCrude Company.
• August 24, 2007, a legal notice was published in the Texas Register, (32 TexReg 5411-5412), officially deleting the site from the state Superfund registry in accordance with 30 TAC §335.344(c) and 30 TAC §361.189(a). The site was accepted into the Voluntary Cleanup Program. [Read the text of the legal notice in PDF. ( Help with PDF.) The PDF file does not include illustrations or copies of documents cited.]

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E-mail: superfnd@tceq.state.tx.us if you have questions.