Wilcox Oil Company

Overview

Crude oil refineries operated on this roughly 150-acre site in Bristow, Creek County, Oklahoma from about 1915 to 1963. The Wilcox Oil and Gas Company refined crude starting in the 1920s and added the adjacent Lorraine Refinery in 1937. When operations ended, equipment and tanks were removed but contaminated waste stayed behind. The site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in December 2013. Today the site includes residential areas, a mobile home park, a vacant church, and other parcels spread across five distinct sections.

The EPA has identified benzo[a]pyrene and lead as the main contaminants of concern, found in solid waste in the source area. Broader contamination includes lead, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil, sediment, surface water, and shallow groundwater. Shallow groundwater is affected, but residents' drinking water wells draw from a deeper formation that has not been impacted. According to EPA performance measures, human exposure is not currently under control at the site, and groundwater migration status has insufficient data to determine if it is stabilized.

EPA and Oklahoma's Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) began investigations in the mid-1990s. Since then, EPA has taken several early cleanup actions. In 2015, crews capped an abandoned drinking water well and fenced an oily sludge pit on a residential property. In 2017, about 1,300 tons of contaminated soil were removed from one residence. In 2018, approximately 60,000 tons of contaminated source material were excavated from 11 areas. EPA has divided the site into two operable units. The source area unit (OU 01) had a Record of Decision issued in September 2018, selecting excavation, solidification and stabilization on site, and offsite disposal as cleanup methods. Remedial action for that unit was completed in September 2023, and operation and maintenance is estimated to begin by late 2023. A five-year review for the sitewide area is estimated between June and August 2027.

The site is still in the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study phase for the broader sitewide cleanup. EPA is working to understand the full extent of contamination and assess health and ecological risks. A final sitewide cleanup remedy document is targeted for Fall 2029. The City of Bristow is also pursuing commercial, manufacturing, and light industrial redevelopment on portions of the site near the Route 66 and I-44 interchange.

Community members can review site documents at the Bristow Public Library at 111 West 7th Avenue, or access records through the ODEQ website. Questions can be directed to EPA Remedial Project Manager Nabil Mzee, Community Involvement Coordinator Jason McKinney, or ODEQ Project Manager Todd Downham. People living or working near the site are advised to wash hands frequently, avoid oily waste areas, limit contact with bare soil, and have children tested for blood lead levels through the county Health Department.