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Mill Brook Oil Release FPN E19201

 
Site Contact:
Kelli Lucarino, OSC & Josephine Martin
OSC

(lucarino.kelli@epa.gov)

Site Location:
Meadow Road
Edison, NJ 08837
 response.epa.gov/millbrook

The Site is the location of a defunct petroleum refinery, Raritan Refining Corp., dating back to the 1920s. When he refinery opened it occupied about 50 acres and produced 1.8 million barrels per year of gasoline, lubricating oil, and fuel oil. It operated into the 1950s until it was shut down and demolished. The property was subdivided/sold to various owners. The former refinery property is now part of a vast industrial park setting consisting of commercial and light industry.

The nature of the release is two fold. There is a persistent, on-going subsurface release of #2 oil and other refined petroleum products originating from the former refinery. The oil is percolating underground into a concrete rainwater culvert which leads to Mill Brook, and thence to a confluence with the Raritan River, both of which are navigable waterways of the US. Drone-crawler imagery of the interior of the storm drain shows oil intruding at the sections' seams and through small cracks. In addition to the on-going release of oil from the storm drain, subsurface oil is also moving, in a slightly different direction, through the aquifer and into a wetland adjacent to the Raritan River.

A company that owns the property through which the culvert passes has been maintaining adsorbent boom to intercept the oil. The company had recently stopped this activity when it learned that the oil was originating from a location up-gradient of its property. When the company ceased maintaining the boom, sheen and product began to appear on the Mill Brook and subsequently on the Raritan River. At that point the NJDEP interceded and was maintaining the boom.

On a parallel track, the NJDEP has been working with a number of companies located on the former tank farm property and some GW monitoring wells have been installed. Ground water flow indicates a gradient generally from west to east, towards Mill Creek, and limited soil/GW sampling has delineated areas of light to heavy petroleum contamination. This Site is located in US Coast Guard jurisdiction, and EPA has obtained OSC authority for this Site from Coast Guard, Sector New York.

The EPA mitigation strategy will be focused on both the on-going release from the storm drain and the subsurface release into the wetlands. Initial funding of $50,000 has been allocated to EPA to take over boom maintenance from the NJDEP. EPA has obtained additional funds to initiate a geophysical assessment using a Geoprobe and Laser Induced Fluoroscopy to determine the direction of oil flow and amount of subsurface oil. Subsurface assessment began on April 10, 2019 and as of April 19, 2019 71 holes have been drilled, producing extensive data. Data has been interpreted and posted on this web site in Documents and Links sections.

EPA began performing weekly boom/pad change-outs as of 12/18/18. Dirty absorbent material is staged in a 20-yard roll-off located at the Site pending periodic T & D. See POLREPs section for detailed, current information.


Sheen and oiled stream bed. Sheen on open section of storm drain. Water infiltration (upper right and upper middle) into Catch Basin #3. Note cracked casing at upper right. Oil and water seeping out of the ground onto the concrete retaining wall at the foot of the slope at 77 Executive Ave. Oil and water seeping out of the ground onto the concrete retaining wall at the foot of the slope at 77 Executive Ave. Waste disposal facility picking up full 30 yard roll-off. Waste disposal facility dropping off empty 30 yard roll-off. Damaged section of storm drain #2. Oil/water seeping from hillside. Oil sheen and contamination on banks. Note heavy sheen on surface of the water and oil on banks. View of open section of storm drain showing oil residue on rocks, foliage, and banks. View of open section of storm drain showing oil residue on rocks, foliage and banks. View of open section of storm drain showing oil residue on rocks and foliage. Note heavy sheen on foliage and shoreline. View of open section of storm drain showing oil residue on rocks and foliage. Note heavy sheen on surface of water and inside concrete pipe. Image showing three places in northernmost catch basin in storm drain on 190M LLC property. Catch basin is located against concrete retaining wall at base of slope. Aged, brown product infiltrating the storm drain catch basin (upper right). a Visible sheen trapped by spill mat in open section of storm drain. Visible sheen in the middle of the open run of storm drain. Visible sheen at entrance to last section of storm drain. Blobs of oil in open section of storm water drain flowing right to left. Oil trapped in loop of boom. Note heavy sheen flowing from storm drain. Oil accumulated in southern most storm drain access pit. Example of CGI 3-D imagery of a cross section of land. View of base of concrete retaining wall at 190M property showing oil seeping from under wall. View looking north at retaining wall at 190M property showing oil seepage from wall. Oil globules bubbling up from stream bed. Heavy sheen coming from outfall with free product trapped by boom. View of heavy sheen on stream at south end of 190M property. Image of cone penetrator machine positioned for drilling hole at 339M property. Note utility mark-outs on the grass. Image of Bloodhound tech using GPR to identify underground utilities at the 339M property 220 Meadow Road Image of soil subsidence at sloped property at 77 Executive Ave. Oil seeping from hillside from Meadow Road onto 75 Executive Ave. Note dead grass. Oil seeping from hillside from Meadow Road to 75 Executive Ave, aka 190M LLc. Image of free product collected by boom in effluent from storm drain at 75 Executive Ave, aka 190M property. Side view of Geoprobe rig set up on vacant property. View of geophysical rig set up on target property. Note the thin cone penetrometer underneath the rig between the wheels. Schematic of storm water drain system. Boring plan superimposed over original refinery. View of remains of refinery bulkhead along Raritan River north of Edison Boat Launch. Photo of former pipeline north of Edison Boat launch. Tidal mud with oil-like material with an oil odor. Photo taken near north of Edison Boat launch next to defunct pipeline. Tidal mud with oil-like material with an oil odor. Photo taken near north of Edison Boat launch next to defunct pipeline. Imagery of oil in tidal mud at confluence of Raritan River and Mill Brook. Photo taken by Raritan Riverkeeper Bob Spiegel in 2012. Imagery of oil in tidal mud at confluence of Raritan River and Mill Brook. Photo taken by Raritan Riverkeeper Bob Spiegel in 2012. Imagery showing oil seeping from ground and apparent subsidence of soil above seepage. View of rip-rap fill that appears to be subsiding down from Meadow Road (top left). Oil seeping from ground at retaining wall down-slope from Meadow Road. View of oil seeping from the ground and dead vegetation on slope down from Meadow Road. View of outfall leading to open section of storm drain. Note new spill pads and hay staged to intercept oil and silt. View of open portion of storm drain showing new spill pads and bales of hay to intercept sheen and silt. View of open water portion of storm drain. Note very heavy sheen along entire length of waterway Northernmost catch basin showing water and oil infiltration from the side of the basin. Free product trapped in boom at storm drain outfall. Sheen flowing from storm drain at south section of Site. Free product flowing through storm drain catch basin. Oil flowing from pipe on left to pipe upper center. Free product in north-most catch basin. Image of crew changing spill pads at end of storm drain. Note free product and mousse in water run-off. Street view of access vault to storm drain showing free produce flowing through vault. Image of free product trapped by spill pads in open ditch. ERRS crew replacing spill pads with new pads. Note the significant discoloration of the old pads on the right. Oil and mousse in catch basin of storm drain observed during sorbent boom change. Oil and mousse in bottom of storm drain catch basin observed during routine boom change. New pads and boom in open section of storm drain. Note rubber mats on left for safety. New boom in storm drain catch basin. ERRS Techs preparing to drop new boom into storm drain catch basin. Roll off ID #s. Roll off spotted at the Site. Ad for investment bonds for Raritan Refining Corp, The Sun, November, 1919. Free product trapped by boom and rocks. Sheen on storm water run-off from drain at Site during oil sampling. Weston Solution techs acquiring oil samples. Weston Solution techs acquiring oil samples. Sheen and free product inside catch basin of storm drain at the Site. Image II of heavy sheen in water flowing from broken storm drain at south end of Site. Image of heavy sheen in water flowing from broken storm drain at south end of Site. Image of sheen and free produce (center) after exiting storm drain at south end of Site. Image of oil and sheen (Upper right) from broken storm drain at south end of Site. View of one day-old boom inside storm drain point One day-old boom downstream where drainage pipe is broken. Note very slight oil stain on edge of boom. Imagery of typical ground water monitoring well. Oil seepage into culvert at 79.4 feet in section C to B. Water flowing into culvert from pipe joint at 289 feet into culvert section B to E/C Oil seepage at 75 feet into culvert section C to B. Oil globules at 242 feet into culvert, sections B to E/C. Oil globules at 242 feet into culvert section B to C/E. Pipe crawler imagery of concrete culvert showing oil seepage through walls of culvert at 15 feet into culvert. Pipe crawler imagery of concrete culvert showing oil seepage through walls of culvert at 7.9 feet into culvert. Image of location where broken culvert directs water and oil along surface path towards Mill Brook. Image of water flow path showing oil-stained soil and vegetation. Image of boom at area where culvert is missing and water runs into surface stream leading to Mill Brook. Image of surface water where it reenters culvert. Note oil stained rocks and banks. Water seepage from hillside just above culvert which runs parallel to curb 5 feed below road. In-fall where surface water reenters culvert. Note oil stained rocks and soil along banks. View of site showing where petroleum enters Mill Brook and where Mill Brook enters the Raritan River. Overview of site showing landmarks, subsurface flow, surface water culvert, Mill Brook and culvert outfall.
For additional information, visit the section.