The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has reached a $3.3 million agreement with two oil and gas companies over decades-old contamination at a petroleum storage facility in Pittsburgh.
The agreement calls for Energy Transfer and Atlantic Richfield to fully clean up leaks emanating
from the storage depot along the Allegheny River, in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood.
According to the DEP, the pollution dates back to when the site was a refinery owned by Standard Oil and Atlantic Refining, from 1868 to 1930. The contamination was first discovered in the late 1970s in connection with above-ground storage tank releases, and includes soil and groundwater contamination, tar releases along the Allegheny River, and “a petroleum sheen that has been present and continues to appear” along the river, according to the settlement.
There have been various attempts by the state and previous owners to clean up the site, including a 1996 agreement with the terminal’s then-owner, Sunoco. But these have not worked, said Heather Hulton VanTassel, executive director of Three Rivers Waterkeeper.
“It’s now a legacy site of petrochemicals that are just latent in that area,” VanTassel said.
Her organization has been monitoring leaks from the site and reporting its findings to the DEP for several years.
“We would find that this site was constantly leaking oil, creating an oil sheen on the Allegheny River that was consistent,” she said.
In August, Three Rivers Waterkeeper issued a notice of intent to sue the site’s owners over the contamination.
The site is occupied by a petroleum storage and distribution terminal owned by Energy Transfer, formerly Sunoco. It also includes a cold storage warehouse and an employee parking lot for UPMC
Three Rivers Waterkeeper complained to DEP in 2023 about the site, and Sunoco placed booms in the river to contain the oil flow. But the seeps persisted, and in December 2023, the DEP issued notices of violation for the site “after inspectors confirmed unpermitted discharges to the Allegheny River,” the DEP said, in a statement.
“This settlement sends a clear message that Pennsylvania will not tolerate ongoing violations that harm our waterways and communities,” said DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley, in a statement. “The Allegheny River is one of our most vital natural resources, and DEP will ensure that Energy Transfer and Atlantic Richfield Company take every step necessary to eliminate these discharges and restore the site.”
VanTassel says the oil and petrochemicals that leak from the facility are harmfulnot just to wildlife but also to people.
“The Allegheny River provides drinking water to the Pittsburgh region as well as flows into the Ohio River, and helps make up the headwaters to the Ohio River basin, [which] provides drinking water to five million people,” VanTassel said.
“Also, oil on the river is going to take away from the recreational value [of the river],” she said. “That impacts our economy, that impacts our community’s wellbeing.”
The order requires the companies to clean up both the oil terminal site and tar buildup on the banks of the Allegheny River.
Of the $3.3 million fine, $1 million can be used to fund community environmental projects that directly benefit nearby communities impacted by historical pollution.
