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EPA Adds Wilcox Oil Site in Creek Co., OK, to National Priorities List of Superfund Sites; Nine hazardous waste sites added, eight proposed nationally

Release Date: 12/11/2013
Contact Information: Jennah Durant or Joe Hubbard at 214 665-2200 or R6Press@epa.gov.

(Dallas – December 11, 2013) Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will add the Wilcox Oil Company site in Creek County, Oklahoma, to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites, a list of sites that pose risks to people’s health and the environment. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

The site, about 35 miles southwest of Tulsa, consists of the former Lorraine and Wilcox Refinery. The two companies operated refineries and associated facilities on the property from 1915 to 1965. The 125-acre site includes remnants of the former oil refining operations and tank farms. Contaminants at the site include metals—mainly lead—and polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons, a group of chemicals found in crude oil that might cause cancer or reproductive and skin effects.

“Cleaning up National Priorities List sites is one of EPA’s most important priorities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. “The families who live near the Wilcox Oil site deserve to be protected from these contaminants.”

Adding the Wilcox Oil site to the NPL allows for the EPA to evaluate the nature and extent of the contamination and assessing how best to treat it.

Since 1983, EPA has listed 1,694 sites on the NPL. At 1,147 or 68 percent of NPL sites, all cleanup remedies are in place. Approximately 645 or 38 percent of NPL sites have all necessary long-term protections in place, which means EPA considers the sites protective for redevelopment or reuse.

More information about the National Priorities List: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/

More information about EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-6-south-central