Perth Amboy Refinery

The refinery located in Perth Amboy, New Jersey was founded in 1920. In 1946 it was purchased by Standard Oil of California, which was originally created by John D. Rockefeller in 1911. Standard Oil eventually became Chevron, the fifth largest energy company in the world that is not controlled by a government agency.

Following the purchase, the refinery was developed and expanded, and by 1950 it was a full service unit capable of producing 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day. By 1983, Chevron had decided to scale the facility back, and reduced it to be just an asphalt producing plant.

In 2003 the plant was investigated to make sure it was up to code and compliant with all standard safety regulations. Investigators looked for gas leaks and other potentially hazardous situations, and fully examined every code violation they could find. After the study was completed, a full report was produced describing any problems within the plant, and how major those problems may be. The report was given to several environmental agencies that reviewed it and made suggestions regarding how to proceed. Chevron was required to make several repairs to the plant, and to remove soil that had been contaminated over the years. They also had to put monitoring systems in place to allow for enhanced groundwater supervision.

By 2005 the repairs were well under way, but this was not the first time the plant had to undergo a major operation to dispose of toxic materials. For many years the refinery operated with a variety of products that were created from asbestos, a naturally occurring material that was used for many years before it was discovered to be toxic. Following that discovery, the refinery was forced to properly dispose of all items that were made out of asbestos.

The hazard comes when the asbestos based products get old and start to fall apart. This allows the small fibers that make up asbestos to float freely, where they can breathed in and dwell within a person's respiratory system for many years. Anyone who inhales asbestos will be at risk of developing serious respiratory problems, and possibly even a life threatening form of cancer known as mesothelioma. For this reason, every person who worked at the Perth Amboy facility should be examined by a medical professional.

In 2006 the refinery was closed down and demolished. It has been an empty lot since then, but as of November 2007, talks have been under way for the use of the property by two major corporations.

Last modified: December 09 2009.