We got to go on a field trip to Ferndale for a driving tour of the Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery! Our staff and board president were able to take a tour of the Ferndale Refinery and get to know the inner workings of the facility and enjoy conversations with our refinery hosts, Brandi and Tim. Thank you Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery for supporting our stewardship project and sponsoring the maintenance of one of our Native Plant gardens.

It was fun to get to learn about the processes and the lay of the land. Our tour started up on “Crude Hill” and wove throughout the plant. One of the large tanks holds 134,000 barrels of crude oil. With 42 gallons in a barrel, that’s 5,628,000 gallons!  The scale of operations is quite impressive. Another one of the tanks is even larger at 600K capacity- “big enough to fit a Boeing 747 inside”, Tim explained. Photo below L-R: Todd Elsworth, ED; Andrew Olive, Board President; Zuzana Pankovcin, Office Manager; Elizabeth Nelson, Parkscriptions Program Director; Brandi Civico, Phillips 66 Community Relations Coordinator. Photo Credit: Tim Johnson, Phillips 66 

They have a fascinating business that fuels our world. The crude oil that comes in gets processed into many different products that we all use daily. This graphic illustrates the diversity of products that come out the refinery process. The Ferndale plant predominately produces gasoline for regional distribution. 

Here’s some deeper insight into their business: 

“At Phillips 66, our purpose is to make the products that help people go further, go faster, go higher, dream bigger and lead safer, more productive lives. This report describes how the people of Phillips 66 are working every day to fulfill our purpose by making progress on operating excellence, environmental stewardship, our social responsibilities and our financial performance.

At Phillips 66, we believe sustainability means we are accountable for operating excellence, environmental stewardship, social responsibility and financial performance. Our company is ethical and operates in a responsible manner, demonstrating our values of safety, honor and commitment.” Check out their Sustainability Report: View the 2019 report in PDF format (35MB)

We were grateful for the tour and getting to know our community partners at the  Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery  and talking about potential project plans for the future. We also look forward to hosting a work party in Fairhaven Park with them this April. Their support is felt throughout our community from the public soccer fields to the trails on Galbraith and our special place in the forest. 

Inside scoop: I just can’t pass up the opportunity for a TOUR! Look to our Alliance Gathering calendar to see when we’re going to local recreation manufacturing facilities throughout the year.