The U.S. Energy Information Agency predicts<\/a> a small increase in gasoline prices due to the Phillips 66 refinery closure and of a Valero-owned refinery in the Bay Area city of Benicia next year. California officials are holding out hope that other companies will buy<\/a> one or both of the refineries and keep them in operation, as lawmakers are considering whether to streamline permit approvals for refineries.<\/p>\n In the meantime, years of groundwater testing by regulators reveal a toxic legacy. Among the pollutants in the groundwater under the Carson and Wilmington facilities, overseen by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, are lead from buried<\/a> waste and dangerous levels<\/a> of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from foam used to fight fires at the refinery.<\/p>\n None degrade naturally and likely will have to be contained underground, said Danny Reible, a professor of environmental engineering at Texas Tech University who has advised governments on such cleanups. It is \u201ceffectively impossible to remove 100%\u201d of such pollution, Reible said.<\/p>\n Some contaminants have leached into aquifers that are a source of drinking water. Since 2023, more than five<\/a> different<\/a> samplings by Phillips 66 found elevated levels of tert-butyl alcohol<\/a>, a gasoline additive, in a groundwater monitoring well in a neighborhood about a half-mile from the Wilmington site.<\/p>\n The well, which is not used for drinking water but touches an aquifer that is connected to drinking water wells in South L.A., has been tested since 2008 after regulators suspected pollution had migrated there. Phillips 66 said the tert-butyl alcohol findings are not attributable to the refinery, and the Los Angeles water board said it did not test drinking water wells for the pollutant because they are all more than a mile from the refinery.<\/p>\n As for the Carson site, two reports from 2005, one<\/a> by the U.S. EPA and another<\/a> by the local water board, noted its contamination of the Silverado aquifer could affect nearby drinking water wells. Sampling<\/a> last year found tert-butyl alcohol in a groundwater monitoring well located at the refinery.<\/p>\n The polluted water is being pumped and transported to disposal sites and recycling facilities, said the Phillips 66 spokesperson. The Los Angeles water board said it has overseen the removal of 2.8 million gallons of light non-aqueous phase liquid (a layer of petroleum contamination that floats on top of water) and 317 million gallons of \u201cimpacted groundwater\u201d \u2014 the size of 480 Olympic pools. What\u2019s known as a biosprage system also injects pressurized air into the contaminated layer to break down some pollutants.<\/p>\n In the soil above the groundwater, there is a plume containing volatile organic compounds, such as benzene \u2014 a known carcinogen \u2014 and other gasoline chemicals like diisopropyl ether and methyl-tert-butyl ether, according to testing done last year. Their noxious vapors travel upwards and can seep into buildings.<\/p>\n Phillips 66 said<\/a> it \u201cengaged\u201d Catellus Development Corporation and Deca Companies to evaluate the 650-acre refinery complex \u2014 the size of about 500 football fields. Neither responded to requests for interviews.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The job of regulators after the refinery closes is limited and at times unclear.<\/p>\n The water board will continue testing groundwater but has \u201cno role\u201d in the closure, spokesperson Jackie Carpenter said. It could impose fines on Phillips 66, something it has not done recently.<\/p>\n The Department of Toxic Substances Control told Capital & Main that it only oversees waste removed from an asphalt-capped pond at the Carson plant and a concrete-lined stormwater holding basin at the Wilmington site. Any future waste it deems hazardous<\/a> also would have to be reported for tracking.<\/p>\n A request for comment sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s press office went unanswered.<\/p>\n Julia Giarmoleo, a spokesperson for the U.S. EPA, said states are authorized<\/a> to manage solid waste and groundwater contamination. (In 2019 the EPA rejected<\/a> superfund financial responsibility requirements for oil refineries.)<\/p>\n A lack of coordination worries environmental justice organizations, which are pressing<\/a> the state of California to establish a refinery wind-down process.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a \u201cchaotic\u201d process, said Sylvia Arredondo, civic engagement director at Communities for a Better Environment. Instead, the state should be taking an active lead to \u201cdo it as a gradual shift.\u201d<\/p>\n The costs also are uncertain.<\/p>\n In filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Phillips 66 said \u201casbestos abatement\u201d and \u201cdecommissioning of assets\u201d at its Los Angeles refinery would cost $231 million.<\/p>\n But decommissioning and cleaning \u201care two different processes with wildly different price tags,\u201d said Faraz Rizvi, policy and campaign manager for Asian Pacific Environmental Network, which is holding a town hall meeting to gather input from nearby residents.<\/p>\n Refinery owners\u2019 disclosure of those costs is mostly unregulated, and they\u2019re allowed to presume refineries have no retirement date. That\u2019s different from other industries with more certain retirement dates, such as nuclear, where plant owners must maintain a fund to close generating stations.<\/p>\n Six of the largest oil refining companies in the U.S., including Phillips 66, have actual closure costs estimated at $34 billion combined, but their own estimates total less than $1 billion, according to a report<\/a> by London-based think tank Carbon Tracker, which based calculations on daily output capacity.<\/p>\n The Phillips 66 refinery receives refined oil from the Carson plant to make gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Patrick T. Fallon <\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Taxpayers could end up covering shortfalls, said Eric Stevenson, a former director of meteorology, measurement and rules at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. \u201cIt\u2019s the Wild West right now,\u201d Stevenson said.<\/p>\n Phillips 66 reported a $908 million loss on its Los Angeles refinery in 2024. Its leadership saw a shakeup after the hedge fund led by billionaire Paul Singer bought a $2.5 billion stake in the company and pushed for a focus on other assets, including a petroleum export hub near Houston.<\/p>\n Mass layoffs have followed Singer\u2019s involvement at other companies, such as a petroleum refinery<\/a> in Contra Costa County owned by Marathon Petroleum. About 600 employees and 300 contractors work at the Los Angeles refinery.<\/p>\n Phillips 66 will retain a presence in Los Angeles. In addition to importing gasoline from its Washington state refinery, it faces federal charges<\/a> for dumping 790,000 gallons of oil-laden wastewater into county sewers in 2020 and 2021. A criminal trial is scheduled for next year.<\/p>\n Standing outside the Wilmington refinery on a recent morning, longtime resident Anita Gomez urged a group of staff members for state lawmakers not to let the company skirt its obligations.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Large](\"https:\/\/scpr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/2145c3f\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3445x2297+0+0\/resize\/792x528!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fscpr-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2F1f%2F45%2F7d10f3f14372a5a26a2792b9ca95%2Fgettyimages-2208965353.jpg\")
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