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Former Husky Oil land may be developed
By Carole Cloudwalker
This document was published online on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
About 275 acres of land off County Road 2AB that formerly housed an oil refinery could be home to an industrial site or a park in the future.
On Tuesday, the county commissioners designated portions of the former Flying J refinery location - which once housed the Husky Oil Co. refinery - along 2AB as a “Use Control Area,” allowing some activities, but banning others.
For example, the site will not be used for subdivisions, but it could be designated as park land or other short-term occupancy for recreational purposes, a Flying J representative said during a presentation to the commissioners.
Kent Lindberg of Golden, Colo., a senior project manager for ENSR which has been working on clean-up of the site, said nursing homes, day care centers and raising edible plants such as fruit trees and root crops in the area would be prohibited.
“But we are close to the point where there can be beneficial use of the property,” or portions of it, Lindberg said.
“The idea of using a former refinery site for residential is probably not good,” he said, adding that there could be other uses for the land.
Much of the property has been excavated, with pipes and refinery waste material and contaminated soils removed.
“A Use Control Area allows petitioning a government entity for restricted use,” Lindberg added.
The Wyoming Department of Environmental quality (DEQ) will issue “liability assurances” for portions of the ground, assuring future owners and users that clean-up work has been done.
“The buyer will want to have that,” a DEQ spokesman said, adding that beyond that assurance, the level of liability assumed by a new owner is negotiable at the time of purchase.
The possibilities include Flying J retaining liability in case of a contamination problem some years in the future, or a new owner agreeing to accept responsibility.
Either way, there is no liability to the government entity - in this case Park County - for authorizing the Use Control Area.
Al Schultz, who represents Flying J for the area, said the company “wasn't forced to take the refinery down” and has been a good neighbor in cleaning up the site.
He added that there is no present buyer on the horizon.
The site is near a north Cody industrial area targeted as desirable for drawing new businesses to Cody and the county.
On Tuesday the county approved a resolution designating the Use Control Area.
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oil hungry wrote on May 15, 2008 2:32 PM: