Welcome to the bp Whiting
Community Air Monitoring
Data Platform
Our commitment: sharing accurate air quality sampling data with our community. Samples will be collected and the website will be updated approximately every two weeks. Using this website, you can search for sample results, browse community monitoring site locations, and export data.
Explore the Data Learn MoreAbout This Project
Our data comes from ten community monitoring sites spread across Whiting, Hammond, and East Chicago. The bp Whiting Environmental team gathers samples from each of these sites at two week intervals and tests the levels of three compounds that occur naturally in crude oil: Benzene, Toluene, and Xylenes. The results from these tests are shared through this website.
Benzene
Benzene is an aromatic hydrocarbon compound that occurs naturally in crude oil. At room temperature benzene is a flammable colorless liquid with a sweet odor.
Naturally occurring benzene can be found in the atmosphere from volcanic emissions and forest fires. Other sources of benzene include motor vehicle and aircraft emissions, wood combustion, and cigarette smoke. Benzene is used to make other chemicals that are used to make plastics, resins, nylon and other synthetic fibers. It is also used in the manufacturing of rubbers, lubricants, dyes, and detergents.
Toluene
Toluene is an aromatic hydrocarbon that occurs naturally in crude oil. At room temperature, toluene is a colorless liquid that smells like paint thinner.
Toluene occurs naturally in crude oil and in the tolú tree. Toluene is produced during the making of gasoline and other fuels from crude oil. Toluene is used in the manufacturing of other chemicals, nylon, and plastics and it can be used as an additive to gasoline to improve the octane rating. It is used to make paints, paint thinners, nail polish, lacquers, and adhesives.
Xylenes (Mixed Isomers)
Xylenes are an aromatic hydrocarbon that occurs naturally in crude oil and coal tar. Xylenes are a colorless, flammable liquid with a sweet odor.
Xylenes occurs naturally in petroleum, coal tar, and forest fires. Chemical industries produce xylenes from petroleum. Xylenes are used as a solvent, cleaning agent, paint thinner and is also used in the printing, rubber, and leather industries.
Map Elements
Community monitoring station laboratory results for Benzene, Toluene and Xylenes can be viewed on a map in the Data Page.
Map data is based on the selections for Date, Compounds and Sample Sites. These selections can be found to the right of the map. Click the 'Apply' button after making changes to any of these selections in order for the map and charts to refresh.
Dates are based on 2 week increments. Only one date range can be selected at a time.
Compound selection includes checkboxes for Benzene, Toluene and Xylenes.
Sample Site selection will show a list of checkboxes for all community monitoring sites. Compounds and sample sites can be included or excluded from the map and chart data by toggling the checkboxes.
The wind speed and cardinal direction are displayed in the upper-right of the map, referred to as a wind rose. The wind rose is a graphical chart that characterizes the speed and direction of winds at a location. Presented in a circular format, the length of each "spoke" around the circle indicates the amount of time that the wind blows from a particular direction. Colors along the spokes indicate categories of wind speed.
Map Interactions
Sample sites will show on the map as blue circles. Clicking on a sample site point will pop-up details about the samples collected at the site including the lab results for each compound.
Chart Elements
Community monitoring station laboratory results for Benzene, Toluene and Xylenes can be viewed in charts in the Data Page.
Below the map, each selected compound will display a chart with the laboratory results for each selected sample site. The lab results will be shown in µg/m3.
Chart Interactions
Each chart can be printed or downloaded using the upper-right menu.
Ten community air monitoring stations have been installed as part of a consent decree agreement between bp and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed in 2023. These monitoring stations provide data to the public for the air quality beyond Whiting’s fenceline.
The sampling will be completed using passive diffusion sample tubes. Sample tubes will be placed within a sampling shelter with the tube exposed to the ambient air. During the 14-day sampling period, ambient air contacts the media within the sample tubes and chemicals in the air will absorb to the media in the sample tubes. Upon collection of the sample tubes, they are shipped to an independent analytical laboratory for analyses in accordance with EPA Methods 325B. The standard turnaround time for the lab to complete analyses and prepare a report is ten business days.
The target chemicals for the community air monitoring includes benzene, toluene, and xylenes.
A 14-day sampling period is used for this sampling and includes continuous sampling so as soon as a sample tube is collected, another tube is deployed.
Due to the 14-day sampling period, the data represents the average concentration of the specific chemical over the 14-day sample period.
“Community Monitoring” refers to collecting air quality samples using a passive diffusion sample tube that absorbs certain chemicals in the air at community monitoring locations around the bp Whiting Refinery. This passive sampling uses USEPA Method 325B to determine the chemical concentration using the mass of a chemical absorbed onto a sample tube, a known exposure time, the average temperature during the exposure time, and a published uptake rate. In addition to the fence line monitoring required by federal regulations, community monitoring is also required to measure the benzene, toluene, and xylenes emitted by the refinery that may travel into the community.
A microgram per cubic meter is the unit of concentration reported using the passive diffusion sample tubes at the community monitoring locations. This unit is typically viewed as equivalent to parts per billion (ppb). However, since we are dealing with air, we will need to use the ideal gas law and the molecular weight of the compound of interest to convert. A common analogy for ppb is adding one drop of ink to a 10,000 gallon swimming pool is 1 ppb ink.
1 ppb Benzene = 3.19 µg/m3 Benzene
1ppb Toluene = 3.77 µg/m3 Toluene
1ppb Xylene = 4.34 µg/m3 Xylene
Passive sampler means a specific type of sorbent tube (defined in this method) that has a fixed dimension air (diffusion) gap at the sampling end and is sealed at the other end.
Passive sampling refers to the activity of quantitatively collecting Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) on sorbent tubes using the process of diffusion.
Sampling period is the length of time each passive sampler is exposed during field monitoring. The sampling period for this method is 14 days.
Sorbent tube is an inert coated stainless steel tube. Standard polystyrene (PS) tube dimensions for this method are 3.5-inches (89 mm) long × 0.25-inch (6.4 mm) outside diameter (o.d.) with an inside diameter (i.d.) of 5 mm, a cross-sectional area of 19.6 mm2 and an air gap of 15 mm. The central portion of the tube is packed with solid adsorbent material contained between 2 × 100-mesh stainless steel gauzes and terminated with a diffusion cap at the sampling end of the tube. These axial passive samplers are installed under a protective hood during field deployment.
USEPA test method to determine volatile organic compounds from fugitive and areas sources. For more information about USEPA Method 325B, click here.
When discussing xylenes at it pertains to community monitoring, this includes each of the isomers (meta (m), ortho (o), and para (p)).
The data collected as part of the community monitoring project is reviewed by the analytical laboratory for compliance with EPA Method 325B quality assurance (QA) requirements. During this QA process, the following data flags may be assigned to the resulting data. The data flags provided below are some of the common data flags for EPA Method 325B. If the data does not have any flags, it has met the QA requirements of Method 325B.
B – Analyte detected in the field blank
D – Sample duration outside the 14 ± 1 days
E – Estimated result
Fe – Field error
H – Elevated recovery due to sample matrix interference
I – Internal standard not within specified limits
J – Estimated value, analyte was detected between the Method Detection Limit and Reporting Limit
L – Low recovery due to sample matrix interference
ND – The analyte was not present above the Method Detection Limit
O – Analysis conducted outside of holding time
P – Field duplicate(s) exceed 30% relative percent difference
Rc – Recollection analysis
U – Analyte not detected above reporting limit
Wind speed (or wind flow velocity) measures the movement of air in miles per hour (mph). Wind direction shows the direction from which the wind is blowing. For example, a west wind blows from the west to the east.
“Community Monitoring” refers to collecting air samples using a passive sampler that absorbs certain compounds in the air at community monitoring locations around the bp Whiting Refinery. This passive sampling uses USEPA Method 325B to calculate the chemical concentration using the mass of a chemical absorbed onto a sorption tube, a known exposure time, the average temperature during the exposure time, and a published uptake rate. Community monitoring is also required per the Consent Decree to measure benzene, toluene, and xylenes.
New samples are collected every two weeks. Data updates occur every 28 days, one cycle behind sample collection to allow for analysis and quality assurance review.