Producers Coop

[PhiAlpha]

Here’s a shot of just the section that would include the Co-Op.

[PhiAlpha]

To honor the contamination, I think a complex of history museums should be built that documents the history of oil and gas in Oklahoma with a section of the land dedicated to being an accurate reproduction of how the lands might’ve looked during the earliest and boomiest years of production.

I’m sure there is definitely some oilfield contamination in the Co-Op site but most of those wells were plugged and at least remediated to some extent between the 40s and 80s (You can't really more than one or two of the locations in the 1960s aerials). A bunch of the contamination is likely due to the additional industrial uses that took up much more of the surface area up until the co-op was torn down.

[Bill Robertson]

Very interesting read. So when they remediate these areas, do they basically just scoop out the bad layers of dirt and bring in good dirt? That's probably an oversimplification but I'm not sure what else they could actually do...

Back around 1995ish I was in charge of facilities at the Kerr-McGee R&D lab. There were aerial pictures from the early days of the facility that showed a 20' by 60' ditch by the back fence line of the property. There were accusations that it was used to dump chemical waste. The EPA made us dig up a much larger area and everything was tested, put in 55 gallon drums and trucked to a certified handling facility. Then we refilled the hole with fresh dirt. We were required to have a number of monitor wells drilled around the area to be monitored by the EPA. It cost a fortune! And BTW, the tests on the removed soil showed no indication of anything but dirt.

[Urbanized]

Man, that panoramic is super cool. Thanks for sharing. And I learned something new in that there were two roundhouses in the Bricktown area, but that makes total sense as there were multiple railroads converging here.

[PhiAlpha]

Man, that panoramic is super cool. Thanks for sharing. And I learned something new in that there were two roundhouses in the Bricktown area, but that makes total sense as there were multiple railroads converging here.

Anytime! There was also one in the current rail yard south of the river across from the boathouses.

if you’re ever interested in old OK pics, the guy I bought that from usually sets up shop at the state fair and sells prints of a ton of old OK pics and panoramas. Very cool stuff at his booth.

[Mississippi Blues]

I’m sure there is definitely some oilfield contamination in the Co-Op site but most of those wells were plugged and at least remediated to some extent between the 40s and 80s (You can't really more than one or two of the locations in the 1960s aerials). A bunch of the contamination is likely due to the additional industrial uses that took up much more of the surface area up until the co-op was torn down.

I was mostly jesting but do appreciate the clarification. I wasn’t trying to relate the contamination to the oilfield insomuch as throwing out an unserious but maybe interesting idea of how to utilize the land in a way that mitigates cleanup costs.

Also, loving the pictures and history you’ve been sharing.

[mugofbeer]

It seems like the EPA would have some sort of program where they pay for drilling core samples and testing for contamination - even on privately owned land.

[yukong]

It seems like the EPA would have some sort of program where they pay for drilling core samples and testing for contamination - even on privately owned land.

They do not unless the site is declared a super fund site or there is an eminent threat to human health or the environment. If declared an eminent threat, EPA can come in and do a “removal” action to remove that which is causing the threat. But that is primarily for situations where there are barrels of hazardous waste sitting out in a field or abandoned warehouse. Not cases like this. And this site would not be of a nature as to trigger placement on the super fund list. It’s all on the owner.

Again…the government is not going to step in and clean this site. It fits no criteria for such. Not the feds, not the state, not the city. It’s going to sit like it is until the current owner cleans it up, or a purchaser with enough money to take the risk buys it and cleans it up. The only thing the owner might get from the government is a low interest loan. But that will likely be small compared to the actual cost. Most of the Brownfield loans are no more than 1 to 2 million.

[mugofbeer]

I hear you. It just seems kind of contradictory since the EPA likes to control virtually every other aspect of owning land.

[yukong]

I hear you. It just seems kind of contradictory since the EPA likes to control virtually every other aspect of owning land.

EPA has delegated authority over most matters to the State of Oklahoma. They rarely get involved here, except on Indian Land. But even still, when there is an identifiable owner, and there is no imminent threat to human health or the environment, the cleanup is on the owner's dime.