Document j02QOMbJqwXD8R1gGnqgEz6Z

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 8 RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT BASIC INFORMATION Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 RCRA ID: WYR000212175 Mailing Address: 715 Grand Avenue, Laramie, WY 82070 Notification Status: Non-notifier Facility Contact: Deedee Boysen 307-742-5156 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 Lead Inspector: Annette Maxwell, U.S. EPA Arrival Time: 12:35 p.m. Departure Time: 1:24 p.m. Other Attendees: 1. Kimberly Dickerson, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) 2. Dennis Lamb, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) 3. Joe Caldwell, Polar Bear COWDF Type and Purpose of Inspection: Compliance Evaluation Inspection Facility Type: Commercial Oilfield Waste Disposal Facility (COWDF) Applicable Regulations to Inspection: RCRA Section 7003 Inspection Type: Unannounced Inspection Joint: U.S. EPA, WDEQ and FWS OPENING CONFERENCE Company Ownership: Polar Bear Water Treatment, LLC General Facility and Process Description: The Polar Bear facility (Facility) is a COWDF that receives non-hazardous RCRA Subtitle C-exempt E&P oilfield waste for storage, treatment, and/or disposal. The Facility has been issued a permit to operate a COWDF by WDEQ. The Facility includes 11 evaporation ponds, a netted slop pit, storage tanks, and a tanker truck offload area. TOUR INFORMATION Upon arrival at the Facility an opening conference was conducted with Facility representative Joe Caldwell, followed by a walk-through of the Facility. Mr. Patrick Jergens was also present at the time of the inspection but stated that he did not work for Polar Bear COWDF. Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 During the opening conference, Mr. Caldwell stated that there was oil on a pond and that they were working on it, explaining that the tanks were full so they couldn't transfer oil off of the pond. He stated that they were running the oil through filters to get it to where they could sell it and were close to meeting the specifications. Areas of the Facility toured: x slop/skim pit, x evaporation ponds, x tank battery, and x tanker offload area. Data Collected and Observations: During the walk-through I observed that evaporation pond HP-8 (southeastern-most pond, see Attachment 1 - Site Map) contained crude oil floating on the surface. Almost the entire surface the pond (approximately 99%) contained a thin layer of floating oil. See Attachment 2 - Photo Log, photos 1403 to 1407. At the slop/skim pit I observed that the netting covering the slop pit was in poor condition. See Attachment 2 - Photo Log, photos 1408 to 1410. Oily waste that is not physically restricted from access by birds and other wildlife is a concern because of the potential for injury or mortality. Specifically, the large amount of oil on pond HP8 and the poor condition of the netting over the slop/skim pit pose a potentially serious threat to birds and other wildlife. CLOSING CONFERENCE A closing conference was conducted with Mr. Caldwell. I stated that I was concerned about the oil on pond HP-8 and the condition of the netting over the slop/skim pit. POST-INSPECTION Following the inspection, I used Google Earth Pro to estimate the size of the pond in order to determine the acreage of surface covered in oil. The pond, not including liner above the water line, is approximately 280 feet long by 130 feet wide, with the water surface being approximately 0.84 acres in size. Based on my estimate during the inspection that most of the pond was covered in a thin layer of floating oil, this translates to at least 0.8 acres of the surface of pond HP-8 covered in oil. Page 2 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 SIGNATURE & DATE ANNETTE MAXWELL Date: 2021.07.13 07:10:36 -06'00' Digitally signed by ANNETTE MAXWELL Lead Inspector: ________________________________________________ Annette Maxwell, RCRA Inspector JANICE PEARSON Date: 2021.07.14 14:41:52 -06'00' Digitally signed by JANICE PEARSON Supervisor: ___________________________________________________ Janice Pearson, Chief RCRA/OPA Enforcement Branch Page 3 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 ATTACHMENT 1 - SITE MAP Polar Bear COWDF Pond HP-8 Slop/skim pit Page 4 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 ATTACHMENT 2 - PHOTO LOG Photographer: Annette Maxwell Camera Model and ID: Nikon Coolpix, B00227 Photo 1403: DSCN1403.jpg - photo of pond HP-8 with oil covering approximately 99% of the surface. Photo taken facing west Page 5 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 Photo 1404: DSCN1404.jpg - photo of pond HP-8, panned right from photo 1403. Page 6 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 Photo 1405: DSCN1405.jpg - photo of pond HP-8, panned right from photo 1404. Page 7 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 Photo 1406: DSCN1406.jpg - photo of pond HP-8, facing northwest from approximately the midpoint of the pond. Photo shows a small amount of the pond surface not covered in oil. Page 8 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 Photo 1407: DSCN1407.jpg - photo of pond HP-8, panned left from photo 1406. Page 9 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 Photo 1408: DSCN1408.jpg - photo of slop/skim pit, facing northwest. Netting is in poor condition, with very large holes and sagging into the pit. Page 10 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 Photo 1409: DSCN1409.jpg - photo of slop/skim pit, same angle as photo 1408 but taken at a closer distance to the pit. Page 11 of 12 Facility Name: Polar Bear Water Treatment Facility Location: 41.755800, -107.585100 Date of Inspection: May 20, 2021 Photo 1410: DSCN1410.jpg - photo of slop/skim pit, taken from approximately the midpoint of the pit facing northwest. Page 12 of 12