Alabama orders cleanup of abandoned oil recovery business in Trussville

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has ordered the owners of a used oil recovery business in Trussville to clean up a site that contains used oil drums, larger storage tanks and other equipment.

ADEM issued a notice of violations this week to Alabama Oil and Gas Recovery, Inc., which ran an oil recovery business at 2400 Blackjack Road in Trussville just northeast of Birmingham.

The St. Clair County business is no longer in operation, according to ADEM. The company’s operating permits have lapsed and the owners did not apply for renewal.

According to an ADEM inspection report dated Jan. 27, the site contained numerous oil drums and storage tanks, and “petroleum staining was observed throughout the site.”

Efforts by AL.com to reach the business owners were unsuccessful, and the phone number listed in the business’s ADEM paperwork is no longer in service.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has ordered a used oil recovery and transport business to clean up its site of operations in Trussville, where many used oil containers sit unattended and petroleum staining is visible throughout the area, according to an ADEM inspection report.Alabama Department of Environmental Management

The notice of violations orders the owners to submit a plan within 30 days to remediate the site.

The ADEM document states:

“Specifically, the Department requires that Alabama Oil and Gas Recovery, Inc. immediately secure and stabilize the site to prevent release of contaminants and to submit a written closure plan describing the steps that will be taken by Alabama Oil & Gas Recovery, Inc. to remove and properly manage all material currently in storage at the facility, decontaminate or properly manage all equipment used during the operation and closure of the facility, and remove or decontaminate all impacted soils at the facility. The closure plan must include the planned schedule for implementation of the plan.”

The notice of violations also states that ADEM “retains the option to take additional action, including the imposition of monetary penalties, for the noted violation(s) as well as for failure to comply with the requirements of this notice.”

The site of the former oil recovery business is less than two miles from the site of a landfill fire that’s been burning in St. Clair County since late November. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken charge of putting out the fire.

ADEM External Affairs Chief Lynn Battle said there is no connection between the oil business and the landfill fire.