Steven G. Gilbert
Lead author: Steven G. Gilbert
Overview
In 1922 oil was found in the Kevin-Sunburst oil fields in Montana. In 1924 a small refinery was opened to process the crude oil. Texaco acquired the refinery in 1928 and became know for producing lead gasoline throughout and after WWII. On July 30, 1955, Melvin Linnell tries to light his scorching-water heater and is burned in an explosion in his basement. His home is 300 feet from the Sunburst Works refinery. Petroleum Refining Process Equipment Texaco traces the explosion to a leak in an underground pipeline on the refinery. Subsequently, residents of one other home 750 feet north of the refinery report gasoline and water seeping into their basement. Between 1955-1957, Texaco recovers four,344 barrels, or 182,448 gallons, of gasoline, some blended with water, from beneath Sunburst’s neighborhoods. (see Nice Falls Tribune).
Image: Sunburst’s Texaco refinery, shown here throughout the early 1950s, was an essential supply of gasoline for WW II efforts, however at this time it is completely gone except for a legacy of damage, litigation and polluted soil. (TRIBUNE FILE Photograph).
Sunburst timeline (from Nice Falls Tribune)
1912- Sunburst founded and named for how the solar bursts over the Candy Grass Hills at daybreak.
1922- Oil is discovered within the wealthy Kevin-Sunburst oil fields.
1924- L.B. and John O’Neil open a small refinery on 9.3 acres instantly south of Sunburst. The refinery processes 500 barrels of crude oil, or 21,000 gallons, a day.
1926- The refinery capability will increase to 1,200 barrels per day. The O’Neils promote their pursuits to California Petroleum Co.
1928- The Texas Co., now Texaco, acquires California Petroleum.
July 30, 1955- Melvin Linnell is burned in an explosion in his basement, 300 feet from the Sunburst Works refinery as he tries to gentle his scorching-water heater. In the days following, Texaco traces the explosion to a leak in an underground pipeline on the refinery. Residents of one other dwelling 750 ft north of the refinery report gasoline and water seeping into their basement. Texaco drills 36 boreholes and forty eight trenches to investigate the leak and stop it from spreading.
1955-1957- Texaco recovers 4,344 barrels, or 182,448 gallons, of gasoline, some combined with water, from underneath Sunburst’s neighborhoods.
Late 1956- Gasoline cleanup efforts are phased out, besides at two locations near the Linnells and a home with gasoline in the basement.
1957- Texaco proclaims plans to shut the refinery, which covers roughly 380 acres and has an working capability of 8,000 barrels a day. At the time, the refinery employs 105 people and Sunburst is a bustling oil town of 845 residents.
1961- Texaco closes the refinery and sells it to a joint enterprise of Pacific Disguise and Fur, a terrific Falls salvage company and Schnitzer Steel Merchandise of Portland, Ore. The refinery is demolished.
1967- The joint enterprise sells the refinery site to Creed Davis, who later sells portions of the property to native residents. That 12 months, Texaco stops its quarterly monitoring of wells close to the site of the explosion.
1973- Texaco inspects the wells for the last time, but no evidence of critical gasoline contamination is found. Months later, the wells are plugged and abandoned.
1984- Federal Superfund legal guidelines are re-authorized, prompting the state to identify potential sites. The Montana Division of Health and Environmental Companies conducts a preliminary examine and site historical past report in Sunburst, and concludes further investigation is required.
1985- The federal Environmental Safety Agency begins a site inspection and sampling investigation at the previous refinery site.
1986- The EPA decides the refinery site does not qualify as a federal Superfund site and palms the case again to the state.
1989- The MDHES points Texaco an administrative order to conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study on the outdated refinery site.
1993- Texaco removes 700 cubic yards of asbestos-contaminated materials from the previous refinery site 5 instances greater than the unique estimate.
January 1998- Texaco requests a waiver on cleansing up soil and groundwater contaminated by the gas plume which remains trapped under Sunburst from the 1955 spill.
June 1998 – The Montana Division of Environmental Quality, previously MDHES, denies the waiver, citing inadequate info about the extent of the plume.
1999- Texaco buys again three plots of contaminated property on the refinery site, totaling 30 acres.
October 2000 – Texaco submits to the DEQ an underground investigation and indoor air sampling survey on the extent of the plume. The survey concludes it has not migrated more than half a block in 45 years and doesn’t pose a well being menace.
February 2001 – A lawsuit filed in state District Courtroom in Great Falls claims thousands of individuals might have been exposed to harmful chemicals from the refinery site and the gas plume. The swimsuit seeks punitive damages.
June 2003The DEQ recommends letting nature clean up the toxic plume below Sunburst, as an alternative of counting on a multi-million dollar vacuuming operation to do the job.
August 2004- A Cascade County jury orders Chevron/Texaco to pay $15.1 million to the town of Sunburst to cover cleanup prices of the plume, and another $25 million to the roughly eighty plaintiffs for punitive damages. The oil company appeals the ruling.
Spring 2006The DEQ moves ahead with a remediation plan and begins testing soil samples and properties for signs of harmful fumes.
August 2007 The Montana Supreme Court docket affirms the $15 million for cleanup prices, plus one other $1 million in curiosity, however asks the state court docket to again consider the punitive damages. Chevron/Texaco and the plaintiffs later settle out of court docket for an undisclosed amount.
October 2008- A household who ranches northwest of the closed Texaco gasoline refinery in Sunburst sues the company, saying their land and underground water was polluted by oil leaking from storage tanks. The case is about for trial in June 2010.
Spring and summer season 2009 Water Environmental Technologies, the private company employed by the plaintiffs, begins cleanup work of the third Avenue plume. In the meantime, Chevron below the course of the DEQ launches a sequence of tests, including a 1,000 soil samples and 200 wells.
