The Falcon Refinery Superfund site (hereinafter referred to as “the site”) is in an unincorporated area of San Patricio County, approximately one mile southeast of Ingleside, Texas. The site is an inactive petroleum refinery that operated during the 1980s and consisted of 32 aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) used to store petroleum products. Since 2004, many of these ASTs have been dismantled and removed from the site. However, it is unknown whether the integrity of these tanks was compromised while they were still in use and if so, whether petroleum-related contents may have leaked into the underlying soils.
To evaluate the current (2025) status of soil quality, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), collected soil samples from the site in January 2025. Soil samples were collected from within the footprints of 13 large former ASTs (greater than 40 feet in diameter) and 8 small former ASTs (30 feet in diameter). For volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis, samples were collected from 47 discrete locations (3 from each footprint of the large former ASTs and 1 from each footprint of the small former ASTs). For semivolatile organic compound (SVOC) and metal analyses, composite samples were collected. In total, 15 composite samples (13 from the large former ASTs and 2 from the small former ASTs) were collected and analyzed for SVOCs and metals.
