In 1940, Oklahoma and Kansas businessmen L. E. Kincannon, L. E. Winkler, and L. B. Simmons built Indianapolis’ only oil refinery, which began processing crude oil in October 1941. By the mid-1940s, the northwest side facility at 5000 West 86th Street was producing 7,500 barrels of crude oil a day. The refinery increased production over the next several decades, and sales were $592 million by 1981 (about $1.7 billion in 2020), making it Indiana’s largest independent refinery. Besides supplying products for its own United gasoline station chain, Rock Island also sold petroleum products to other independents such as Kocolene and Crystal Flash.
In March 1989, Houston, Texas-based Marathon Oil Company paid about $140 million to acquire Rock Island, making it one of five Marathon refineries. The principal owners, members of the Winkler and Kincannon families, sold the refinery because they were no longer involved in the management of the company. In addition, no heirs had an interest in taking over the operation. Before the Marathon purchase, the refinery employed about 300 people with additional workers at 28 United filling stations. (United stations became Speedway stations after the sale.) Rock Island also held a 50-percent interest in the Wake-Up gasoline chain.
By 1993, the facility refined 50,000 barrels of oil a day. In 1991, Marathon agreed to pay $3.9 million ($7.5 million in 2021) in fines and environmental improvements for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. In July 1993, Marathon announced it would close the refinery by the end of the year and lay off the majority of its 260 employees owing to the expense of complying with provisions of the Clean Air Act.
The City of Indianapolis hired Mundell & Associates, Inc., a local environmental consulting firm, to evaluate the redevelopment of the site in 2015. Mundell estimated that between 1977 and 1992 alone over 80,000 gallons of waste and slop oil, jet fuel, lubricants, gasoline, kerosene, and industrial wastewaters had been spilled at the site in multiple incidents. The consulting firm estimated that would take from $9.8 to $12.3 million to clean up the site. The site has not yet been cleaned up.
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