Transforming an Industrial Site Into a Public Amenity

Hey everyone, I'm on my last week of travels and just got done visiting one of the more interesting sites. The golf course is Three Crowns Golf Course located in Casper, Wyoming. The reason I wanted to visit this site is because it was a major phytoremediation project. The original site was a oil refinery that dated back to the 1920's and was one of the largest refinery's in the world at one time. the refinery is located in the heart of Casper just minutes from downtown. It was also located along the Platte river and over the years groundwater leached into the river. In its 80 years of operation an estimation of 30 million gallons of oil was spilled. In result the soils and ground water was seriously contaminated.

The process for cleaning up of the site took well over 10 years. I will try to sum up the cleaning process. First everything was recycled all the concrete and all the 200 miles of pipe they dug up. To control the ground water problem they constructed a barrier wall along the platte river so no contaminated water enters the river. BP then installed over 100 recovering wells on this 400 acre site. Wells pump the ground water which goes through a oil and water separate. after that process the water then goes there a wetland treatment process. Once the water goes through this natural process it is then pipe to a local wild life refuge.

The site is made up of a golf course, walking trails, commercial development and a kayaking park. This was a major project and is evident a success the space is used by everyone and is a great case study for been environmentally conscious.