Cleanup at South Philly refinery must tackle decades of chemicals

Even before last month’s explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery in South Philadelphia, the 1,300-acre facility was going to need major contamination cleanup — hydrocarbons in the soil, benzene and lead and toluene across the area, plumes underground. As the Philadelphia Fire Department works to secure the site and state inspectors prepare to determine the extent of the damage, regulators and other stakeholders are now looking at a big cleanup job that they didn’t know would come so soon. The historical contamination means the area needs remediation — something Sunoco, which preceded PES as refinery operator, has been working on for several years — and the refinery’s impending closure means a new plan is needed soon. Contaminated sites like the refinery require remediation to stop hazardous substances from moving off-site and to prepare a site to be repurposed. The process generally includes testing, planning, and treating phases to address harmful contamination in the soil, water, or elsewhere in the environment.