Compass Industries on Avery Drive is a former municipal solid waste landfill in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. It accepted roughly 620,000 cubic yards of solid, liquid, and sludge wastes, including acids, caustics, solvents, and potentially cancer-causing materials, between 1972 and the early 1980s. Those wastes contaminated both soil and groundwater. The site was added to the EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983 and deleted from it in January 2002 after cleanup goals were met.
EPA identified 19 contaminants of concern at the site. Metals found there include barium, chromium, copper, lead, and zinc. Organic compounds include toluene, xylene, pyrene, phenanthrene, and several phthalates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These substances were found in groundwater, solid waste, or both. EPA determined they pose an unacceptable risk based on the amounts present and the ways people could be exposed to them.
The main cleanup actions included installing a landfill cap with grading and surface water diversions, security fencing and signs to limit access, and air emissions monitoring. A 2006 Explanation of Significant Differences shifted the remedy's emphasis toward institutional controls, which are legal tools that restrict how the land and groundwater can be used. That same year, the site's responsible parties filed a deed notice restricting groundwater and land use. The City of Sand Springs now maintains the site and handles routine sampling and monitoring, including landfill seep checks, settlement surveys, landfill gas sampling, and surface water sampling.
Human exposure to contamination is currently under control across the entire site. Contaminated groundwater is stabilized and remains within the original area of contamination. The site achieved "sitewide ready for anticipated reuse" status in September 2007, and its 69-acre cap area is available for restricted future use. The most recent Five-Year Review was completed in March 2021. The next review is estimated to occur between March and May 2026. Five-year reviews from 2016 and earlier confirmed that the remedy continues to protect human health and the environment as intended.
Community members with questions can contact the EPA Community Involvement Coordinator. For technical questions, contact the Remedial Project Manager. For state-related questions, contact the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
