Fallon Facility | Safety-Kleen

An extensive network of used oil collection, refining and blending to keep Fallon green

Used oil is lubricant that must be managed in accordance with local, state and federal laws. There are two major methods of used oil management: incineration and re-refining. Currently, of all collected used oil, only 20% is re-refined while the remainder is burned. Safety-Kleen leads the industry in re-refining used oil through the use of our own refineries. All used oil brought into our refineries is analyzed and approved before going through the re-refining process to become finished products.

Fallon Refinery can process 28 million gallons of used oil annually and can generate the following products: base oil, vacuum gas oil (VGO), V401 industrial fuels, and an asphalt material. The VGO produced from the distillation unit is further refined into base oil in the hydrotreater unit. It is then shipped to a Safety-Kleen blending facility and blended with our own high-quality additives to make Safety-Kleen's complete slate of blended lubricants.

Safety-Kleen currently operates under the following permits:

NDEP Class II Air Quality Operating Permit AP2992-1473.03
NDEP Written Determination – Used Oil Recycling NVR000080655
Churchill County Special Use Permits – APNs 007-071-80 & 007-071-81
Utah Used Oil Handler Certificate UOR-0165
Certified Re-Refiner of Used Oil – Cal Recycle 99-R-12045

Latest Communications

We are excited to roll out this webpage that will allow the Fallon Refinery to clearly communicate to the Fallon residents on a regular basis. This page will be updated periodically going forward.

Current Operation Status

The Fallon Refinery has two distillation trains composed of three evaporators. The first evaporator removes the waste water, fuel, and ethylene glycol from the used motor oil. The wastewater is treated on-site, and the treated water is re-used as cooling water. The fuel stream is sold for off-site use. The ethylene glycol is shipped off-site for disposal. The two evaporators separate out the VGO from the dry used motor oil leaving the asphalt product stream remaining at the end of the third evaporator. VGO is used as feedstock for the hydrotreater unit. The asphalt is shipped to customers off-site. We are running approximately 80,000 gallons of used motor oil a day through the two distillation units, which yields approximately 55,000 gallons of VGO per day.

The Fallon Refinery has one hydrotreater train composed of catalyst reactors. The reactors remove metals, sulfur, and other contaminants from the VGO. The finished product is automotive grade base oil. The hydrotreater unit processes about 62,000 gallons of VGO per day which yields approximately 58,000 gallons of base oil per day. The facility has the ability to accept VGO from other Safety-Kleen facilities to supplement the hydrotreater feed.

We are Partners in the Fallon Community and Strive to be a Good Neighbor

We operate a technologically superior facility in a compliant and safe manner; our operations are consistent with all state of Nevada permits and approvals. We strive to continuously improve in all aspects of our Fallon Refinery operations, including utilizing better technologies to protect the Fallon Community and enhance environmental quality.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Scott Miller
SVP of Refinery Operations

Scott Miller has worked at Safety-Kleen for over 20 years. He has a Chemical Engineering degree from Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from Purdue University. In his current role, Scott oversees eight re-refineries, including the Newark Refinery, one used antifreeze plant and all process safety and mechanical integrity teams for Safety-Kleen and our parent company, Clean Harbors.

Chris Balhoff
Fallon Refinery General Manager

Chris has been with Safety-Kleen since 2022. He has more than seven years of experience in the oil and gas/petrochemical industry. He has a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Texas A&M University.

Michael Crisenbery, CHMM
SVP Facilities Compliance and Regulatory Affairs

Mike has worked at Clean Harbors for 36 years. He has B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Microbiology from Miami University and an MBA from University of Cincinnati. Mike is responsible for environmental compliance at the company’s locations in North America. He is also responsible for state, provincial and federal government affairs throughout North America.

Sheila Smith
Director, Environmental Compliance

Sheila Smith has been with Clean Harbors, Safety-Kleen, and its affiliate Emerald Services, Inc. since 2002. She has been in the waste management industry for over 30 years, starting as a field chemist coordinating hazardous waste pickups and moving into compliance roles from there. She has worked with Treatment Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs), re-refineries, wastewater treatment facilities, used oil processors, landfills, and compost facilities, and has managed compliance with air, water, and RCRA permits for all of these types of operations. She also has several years’ experience in laboratory operations and laboratory quality control. Sheila has a B.S. in Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University.