A case study of potential human health impacts from petroleum coke transfer facilities

Figures & data

Figure 1. Air monitoring locations at KCBX North and South transfer facilities.

Figure 2. Wind rose developed from on-site meteorological measurements.

Figure 3. Locations of soil and wipe sampling near KCBX Terminals in Chicago, Illinois.

Table 1. Reference data used for comparison with on-site measurements.

Media	Source of Data	Description
Soil and surface dust	Trace metal and PAH levels in samples collected as part of this study from neighborhoods in SE Chicago that do not abut the transfer stations	Samples collected contemporaneously with samples from abutting neighborhoods and analyzed by the same laboratory, using the same methods for digestion, separation, and quantification.
Soil	PAH levels of soil in Chicago (USGS, 2001)	A probability-based sample representative of Chicago.
Soil	Trace metals and PAH levels in soil reported by the State of Illinois Tired Approach for Corrective Action (TACO) program (Illinois Administrative Code §35.742)	The state government’s recommendations for background levels of potential contaminants of concern in soil of Chicago.
Ambient air	V:Ni ratios in total suspended particulate matter samples collected at the Northbrook Water Plant (Chicago) monitoring station from 2009 through 2013 (AirData; EPA, 2013)	24-hr integrated samples (n = 145) collected on an every-6-day schedule over 5 consecutive years as part of the IEPA Bureau of Air quality monitoring network. The monitoring station is located approximately 15 miles northwest of the transfer stations.
Indoor air	PAH concentrations in indoor air of ten homes in urban areas of Chicago as reported by Van Winkle and Scheff (2001)	24-hr integrated samples (n = 45) collected over an 11-month period of time from each of 10 homes in Chicago not known to be influenced by any particular source of chemicals.
Indoor air	V:Ni ratios in residential indoor air reported for various U.S. locations (Habre et al., 2014; Clougherty et al., 2011; Polidori et al., 2009; Yankoleva et al., 1999)	Published papers identified by literature search that consist of a total of over 200 12- to 24-hr integrated PM2.5 samples in indoor air for homes in New York City, Boston (MA), and Riverside (CA).

Table 2. Composition data for different mixture types of petcoke.

Reference	Petcoke Type	Nickel (ppm)	Vanadium (ppm)	Carbon (%)	Hydrogen (%)	Oxygen (%)	Nitrogen (%)	Sulfur (%)
HPV, 2000	Fuel-grade green petcoke	ND	200–400	NR	9–12	NR	NR	3–6
HPV, 2000	Anode-grade calcined petcoke	165–350	120–350	NR	<0.2	NR	NR	2–3
Andrews and Lattanzio, 2013	Green petcoke	NR	NR	90–92	4–5	1–2	1	1–3
Andrews and Lattanzio, 2013	Calcined petcoke	NR	NR	98	0.1	0.02	0.2	1
Klonne, 1987	Delayed-process micronized sponge petcoke	78–85	130–140	90	4–5	2	1	3
McKee, 2013	Delayed coker green pet coke	300	1200	NR	NR	NR	NR	6
HPV, 2007	Five candidate refinery petcoke quality ranges	250–500	1000–1500	NR	NR	NR	NR	4–6
KCBX, 2014	KCBX South	37–58	100–180	77–90	4	0.01–10	1.5	5–6
	CDPH* (mean values)	230	560	ND	ND	ND	ND	5.14
	EPA Region 5** (mean values)	2.32	22.13	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND

Note. ND = not determined; NR = not reported.

*Samples from KCBX Petcoke by Chicago DPH. **Samples from KCBX South.

Table 3. Summary of vanadium and nickel in source materials.

		Measurements From This Study (n = 6)			EPA R5 Measurements** (n = 12)
Material	Parameter	Mean	Median	Range	Mean	Median	Range
Petcoke	Nickel	34	35	9.1–58	2.3	2.0	1.0–4.4
	Vanadium	111	115	35–180	21	21	4.0–38
	V:Ni	3.4	3.1	3.0–4.4	8.9	9.6	3.6–12
		Measurements From This Study (n = 11*)			EPA R5 Measurements**
Coal	Nickel	2.9	1.0	1.0–8.4	—	—	—
	Vanadium	9.6	7.9	3.8–22	—	—	—
	V:Ni	3.9	3.8	1.9 -6.8	—	—	—

*One sample excluded due to ND value. **EPA R5 did not collect coal samples.

Figure 4. Histogram of 24-hr average PM₁₀ concentrations at the KCBX Terminals, February 18, 2014, to April 4, 2015.

Table 4. AERMOD modeling predictions for maximum annual average and daily PM₁₀ concentrations at residences near KCBX Terminals.

Year	Maximum Residential PM10 Concentrations* (μg/m^3)
	North Terminal		South Terminal
	Annual Average	24-hr Average	Annual Average	24-hr Average
2009	12	54	6	24
2010	11	44	6	26
2011	11	45	6	23
2012	11	47	5	24
2013	11	47	5	25
5-yr average	11	—	6	—

*Concentrations at residences near KCBX Terminals.

Table 5. Average (standard deviation) concentrations of sulfur, vanadium, and nickel in KCBX petcoke and grains of sidewalk dust.^a

Element	KCBX Petcoke (n = 12)	Grains of Sidewalk Dust Tentatively Identified as Petcoke (n = 12)	P value
Sulfur	5.2% (0.96)	6.2% (0.96)	0.0008
Vanadium	0.086% (0.022)	0.11% (0.022)	0.005
Nickel	0.031% (0.01)	0.04% (0.01)	0.008

^aData obtained from Whiting (2014).

Figure 5. AERMOD-predicted PM₁₀ concentrations with downwind distance from the KCBX South Terminal for January 15, 2013.

Figure 6. Vanadium-to-nickel ratios for source materials (petcoke and coal) compared with measured indicators.

Figure 7. Correlation matrix of proportions of PAHs in abutting, control, reference, and source materials.

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