2022
Community Driven Recycling in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
Member Spotlight
In addition to Marathon Petroleum’s TxN Certified efforts showcased below, the company is also a long-time supporter of Texan by Nature and advocates for conservation measures across their operations. Marathon Petroleum is a CatalystMember and was recognized among the 2020 Texan by Nature 20 as a leader in conservation among peers in the Texas Oil & Gas industry.
Background
Marathon Petroleum Company’s Galveston Bay refinery is in Texas City, Texas, on Galveston Bay, near the entrance to the Houston Ship Channel. In 2018, Galveston Bay merged with MPC’s former Texas City refinery into a single world-class refining complex with a crude oil refining capacity of 585,000 barrels per day. This refinery can process and convert a wide variety of crude oils into gasoline, distillates, aromatics, heavy fuel oil, dry gas, fuel-grade coke, refinery-grade propylene, chemical-grade propylene, and sulfur. Products are distributed via pipeline, barge, transport truck, rail, and ocean tanker. The refinery has access to the export market and multiple options to sell refined products.
The Texas Coast acts as a “funnel” for birds and insects migrating along the Central and Mississippi flyways; as a result, the availability of quality habitat in this region is especially important for migrating and resident wildlife alike. Marathon’s Habitat Enhancement, Awareness and Recycle Team (HEART) has mobilized to transform unused company property into viable wildlife habitats, which benefit local wildlife while creating environmental education opportunities for employees and the community.
Project
The main issues the project hopes to address are stormwater runoff, the prevalence of manicured turf (which is undesirable to wildlife), habitat loss for migrant birds, and raising awareness of Marathon’s non-regulatory environmental efforts. The refinery complex includes several acres of green space, providing a number of opportunities for wildlife habitat. To date, HEART has coordinated dozens of employee and community volunteers for the following habitat projects: Butterfly Boulevard, a pollinator garden near the main offices; Learning Lanes, educational native plant beds including solitary bee houses; the 29th St. Duck Pond, a converted detention pond with duck and purple martin nest boxes, as well as bat boxes; Cooper’s Landing, a green space with mature trees; and Warbler Woods, a densely wooded area near the Duck Pond with walking trails.
Restoration and Impact
Beyond habitat projects on company property, partnerships with community groups such as Texas Master Naturalists and Galveston Bay Foundation have extended Marathon’s impact and amplified local environmental efforts. A Galveston Bay Refinery employee worked with the Galveston Bay Area Chapter Texas Master Naturalists to install 96 new collection tubes for recycling monofilament (fishing line) across Galveston County. The new collection tubes were accompanied by new signs (featured in four languages) that explain what the stations are for, why they are important, and how to use them. Discarded fishing line can be harmful to boat motors and marine wildlife.