EPA Announces Plan To Clean Bristow Superfund Site

The Environmental Protection Agency said it now has a plan to clean up an old oil refinery site in Bristow.

Residents there said they are more than ready for the help.

The EPA said the superfund site is on about 140 acres of land. It’s the former home of Lorraine and Wilcox Oil Refineries, which operated from 1915 to 1965.

Wanda Edson lives just down the road.

"In the beginning, there seemed to be a lot of work going on there, but recently I hadn't seen much going on,” she said.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality said the site has tank sludge, lead and other contaminants.

A former church near the site was abandoned in 2014 due to concerns; Colton Cheatwood and his family live right next to the site.

"I'm hoping they get in here and clean it up. I'm tired of messing with them around here," Cheatwood said.

In December 2013, the site was placed on the National Priorities List. Since that time, the EPA said it has removed about 1,000 tons of oil waste from one of the former tank locations, has conducted soil samples, and now it has a proposed clean-up plan.

It includes excavating about 30,000 cubic yards of source material and treating nearly 3,000 cubic yards, and disposing of it. The areas excavated will be backfilled with clean soil.

The total cost is about $4 million.

The EPA said, “The clean-up…takes permanent and effective long-term prevention measures."

In the meantime, Edson said she just hopes that the church is able to reopen and that it is cleaned up.

"It might be years, though. From everything that I've been told, it's not gonna a be a small project," she said.

A public meeting to talk about the proposed clean-up plan will take place next Tuesday at the Bristow Public Library.