Polychlorinated Biphenyls | YPGG

U.S. EPA, California Settle with UC Regents Over Davis Superfund Site Cleanup

October 6, 2018 / Lee Ann Rush / 0 Comments

SAN FRANCISCO –The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) have reached a settlement with the Regents of the University of California (University) to begin an estimated $14 million cleanup of contaminated soil, solid waste, and soil gas at the Laboratory for Energy-related Health Research/Old Campus Landfill Superfund site in Davis, Calif. Contaminants found at the site include carbon-14, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, solvents, such as chloroform, and metals, such as lead.

“This settlement is an important step toward addressing several decades’ worth of contamination at UC Davis,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Mike Stoker. “By cleaning up the site, the University is protecting public health and the environment.”

“Over the next few years, the EPA, along with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, will oversee efforts for the construction of a multi-acre protective cap," said DTSC Deputy Director of Site Mitigation and Restoration Program Mohsen Nazemi. “This protective cap and expansion of the storm water drainage system will significantly reduce the chance of water redirecting harmful substances from landfill units onto unprotected areas of land."

The site, which contains laboratory buildings and undeveloped land, covers approximately 25 acres on the University’s South Campus. Located south of Interstate 80 and east of Old Davis Road, the site is about 250 feet north of the South Fork of Putah Creek.

From the 1950s to the mid-1980s, the University and the Department of Energy conducted studies on the health effects of radiation on animals at the laboratory. In addition, from the 1940s through the mid-1960s, low-level radioactive and mixed waste from the University and laboratory research activities were disposed of at the site.

The University assessed the risk posed by the site’s contaminated soil, solid waste, and soil gas. EPA then approved the soil cleanup plan, commonly known as a Record of Decision, in 2016.

Under the settlement, the University will implement the site’s cleanup remedy for soil, solid waste, and soil gas, which includes:

Excavating and consolidating soil and solid waste;
Installing protective caps in areas where contaminated soils and solid waste will be stored onsite, to reduce leaching of contaminants to ground water and limit human exposure;
Expanding the storm water drainage system to divert water away from the soil and solid waste;
Implementing institutional controls, such as deed restrictions, to protect cleanup equipment, prohibit residential land use, and restrict non-residential land use; and
Monitoring ground water to confirm the remedy’s effectiveness.

In addition, the University will reimburse EPA and the State of California for costs related to the agencies’ ongoing and future oversight of the cleanup. The EPA is also currently evaluating ground water contamination at the site, for which a remedy will be selected in the future.

The agreement was reached under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as the Superfund law, which requires parties responsible for contaminating a Superfund site to clean up the site, or reimburse the government or other parties for cleanup activities.

The proposed consent decree for the contaminated soil, solid waste, and soil gas is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval. Information about submitting a public comment on the consent decree is available at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.

For more information about this site and its cleanup: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/lehr.

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EPA Finalizes Nearly $7 Million Plan to Clean Up Lead-Contaminated Soil at Residential Properties at the Eighteen Mile Creek Superfund Site in Lockport, New York

October 6, 2018 / Lee Ann Rush / 0 Comments

NEW YORK, NY - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized its plan to clean up lead-contaminated soil at approximately 28 residences that are impacted by the former Flintkote Plant property at the Eighteen Mile Creek Superfund Site, in Lockport, N.Y. As part of a multi-phased, comprehensive cleanup of the Eighteen Mile Creek Site, EPA will remove and transport approximately 14,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil for off-site disposal at facilities licensed to handle the waste. The excavated areas will be restored with clean soil.

“Our decision to move forward with the removal of lead from the properties of more than two dozen residences is a major milestone in the long-term cleanup of the Eighteen Mile Creek Superfund site cleanup,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “We are committed to continuing our work with our state and local partners, the community, and individual property owners to ensure that the children and families of Lockport are protected from the legacy of pollution from the Flintkote Plant.”

EPA held a public meeting in August 2018 to explain its cleanup proposal, discuss the other cleanup options that were considered, and to solicit public comments. To read the EPA’s selected cleanup plan, outlined in a Record of Decision, and to view EPA’s responses to public comments in the Responsiveness Summary, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/eighteenmile-creek or for a direct link to the Record of Decision, visit: https://semspub.epa.gov/src/document/02/550180

Background:

Eighteen Mile Creek has a long history of industrial use dating back to the 1800’s. The headwaters of the Creek consist of an east and west branch beginning immediately north of the New York State Barge Canal in Lockport. Eighteen Mile Creek flows north approximately 15 miles and discharges into Lake Ontario in Olcott, N.Y. Investigations at the site show that sediment and soil in and around Eighteen Mile Creek and nearby properties are contaminated with a variety of pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and lead.

The former Flintkote Plant property located at 198 and 300 Mill Street operated between 1928 and 1971 and manufactured felt products.

EPA has taken a multi-phased approach to cleaning up the Eighteen Mile Creek Site. In the first phase, EPA demolished the buildings at the former Flintkote Plant property and bought out and relocated five families from their Water Street residences in Lockport, N.Y. due to the impact of recurring flooding of PCB-contaminated water and sediment from the Creek. Those homes, and the former industrial buildings, were demolished and all demolition debris was removed from the properties.

In the second phase, which is ongoing, EPA is addressing soil and sediment contamination in the Creek Corridor. This encompasses an approximately 4,000-foot segment of Eighteen Mile Creek that extends from the New York State Barge Canal to Harwood Street in the City of Lockport.

The third phase of cleanup – also currently ongoing – is an investigation of groundwater and contaminated sediment in the Creek from Lockport to Lake Ontario.

Today’s announcement involves the fourth phase, which is the cleanup and restoration of lead-contaminated soil at residential properties near the former Flintkote Plant property.

The Superfund program has been providing important health benefits to communities across the country for more than 35 years. Superfund cleanups also strengthen local economies. Data collected through 2017 shows that at 487 Superfund sites in reuse, approximately 6,600 businesses are generating $43.6 billion in sales and employ 156,000 people who earned a combined income of $11.2 billion.

Under the Trump Administration, the Superfund program has reemerged as a priority to fulfill and strengthen EPA’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.

On the one-year anniversary of the EPA’s Superfund Task Force Report, EPA announced significant progress in carrying out the report’s recommendations. These achievements will provide certainty to communities, state partners, and developers that the nation’s most hazardous sites will be cleaned up as quickly and safely as possible.

EPA’s “Superfund Task Force Recommendations 2018 Update” is available at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force-recommendations-2018-update.

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2.

EPA Announces Clean-Up Plan for Donna Canal and Reservoir Site in South Texas

October 1, 2018 / Lee Ann Rush / 0 Comments

DALLAS – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Donna Canal and Reservoir Superfund site in Donna, Hidalgo Co., Texas. The ROD includes the remedy, or final clean-up plan, for the site, which contains fish and sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The remedy calls for removing contaminated sediment and fish and building new infrastructure at the source of the contamination, among other measures. These actions will address risks to people’s health associated with eating fish from the reservoir and canal system.

“The community around the Donna Canal and Reservoir system has lived with the burden of PCB contamination for too long,” said Regional Administrator Anne Idsal. “EPA’s final remedy will address the health risks from contaminated sediment and fish and help keep families safe.”

The site was placed on the National Priorities List in 2008, after several decades of work by EPA and state partners to address PCB contamination and prevent people from eating the contaminated fish. The likely source of contamination is a large concrete siphon that makes up part of the pathway for water to flow from the canal to the reservoir. An important part of the remedy involves removing 20,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the canal to be disposed of at an off-site facility and constructing a new siphon. In addition, fish will be removed from identified contaminated sections of the site annually for five years to prevent people from catching and consuming them.

PCBs are a mixture of individual chemicals no longer produced in the United States, but are still found in the environment. Health effects include acne-like skin conditions in adults and nervous and immune system changes in children. PCBs are known to cause cancer in animals. Since contamination was discovered in the early 1990s, EPA and state and local partners have worked to find the source and prevent community members from eating fish caught in the canal and reservoir system.

After establishing the likely contamination source in early 2018, EPA developed a proposed plan for cleanup. The plan was released for a 30-day public review and comment in May 2018. The ROD establishes the final decision for the site’s cleanup remedy, as well as requirements for future maintenance of cleanup standards.

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On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6
Activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.htm

Pilot Project Advances EPA’s Cleanup of Gowanus Canal Superfund Site in Brooklyn, NY

July 23, 2018 / Administrator / 0 Comments

Contact: Elias Rodriguez, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov, (212) 637-3664

NEW YORK, NY - This week marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund Task Force Report. The Superfund Task Force was commissioned to provide recommendations on how EPA could streamline and improve the Superfund program. EPA has made significant progress in carrying out the report’s recommendations. The Agency also finalized its plans for completing all 42 recommendations by the end of 2019, which are outlined in a new 2018 Update to the Superfund Task Force recommendations.

“EPA has improved the health, living conditions, and economic opportunity of thousands of people living near Superfund sites over the past year as the Agency worked to implement the Task Force recommendations,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “I am proud of the accomplishments achieved by EPA’s hardworking staff, and we will continue to engage directly with stakeholders and communities near Superfund sites to accelerate cleanup and promote economic revitalization. Our plan to complete Task Force recommendations by the end of 2019 will ensure this work continues as one of EPA’s highest priorities.”

“Tremendous progress has been made at this site, and what we are learning here will be applied to the overall clean up the Gowanus Canal,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “This pilot project is serving its purpose – to show us what works best and what may not work as well under real-world conditions as we move toward full-scale cleanup of this highly-contaminated canal.”

Today, EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez, Dan Wiley, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez’s District Director for Southwest Brooklyn, other dignitaries and community members looked on as the dredging and capping pilot project at the Gowanus Canal Superfund site in Brooklyn, N.Y. enters its final phase. Under EPA oversight, approximately 17,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment have been dredged from the Gowanus Canal’s 4th Street turning basin. Work is currently underway to cap the bottom. The project will inform the overall engineering design that will lead to the dredging and capping of the Gowanus Canal. The pilot study began in October 2017 and is expected to be completed later this fall.

Under the pilot project, steel sheet piles walls were installed along the sides of the canal to allow dredging work to be performed safely and sediment was removed and taken off-site for treatment and disposal. In the final phase, layers of sand, clay, and activated carbon-absorbing materials will be placed on the turning basin bottom to create a clean canal bottom.

Background: Overall Gowanus Canal Cleanup

More than a dozen contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals, including mercury, lead, and copper, are present at high levels in the sediment in the Gowanus Canal. PAHs, PCBs, and heavy metals were also found in the Canal water.

The cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal Superfund site includes dredging to remove contaminated sediment from the bottom of the Canal, which has accumulated because of industrial and combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges. Following dredging during the full-scale cleanup, dredged areas will be capped. In addition, certain areas of the native sediment that contain mobile liquid tar will be mixed with cement and solidified to prevent the migration of the tar. The cleanup plan also includes controls to reduce CSO discharges and other land-based sources of pollution, such as street runoff, from compromising the cleanup. The design for the cleanup of the upper canal is to be completed in spring 2019. EPA expects that the implementation of the final cleanup will be covered by a future agreement with, or order by, the EPA. Full-scale dredging of the remainder of the Canal is expected to start in 2020. The estimated cost of the cleanup is $506 million.

To learn more, please visit: www.epa.gov/superfund/gowanus-canal

EPA’s Superfund Task Force web site: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force

Cleanup of Contaminated Soil and Sediment in Stream Near Dewey Loeffel Superfund Site to Begin this Summer; EPA to Hold Public Information Session on July 17

July 10, 2018 / Lee Ann Rush / 0 Comments

Contact: Larisa Romanowski, (518) 407-0400, romanowski.larisa@epa.gov

ALBANY, NY - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that cleanup work will begin this summer to address soil and sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at the Dewey Loeffel Landfill Superfund site in the town of Nassau, N.Y. The General Electric Company (GE) will remove contaminated soil and sediment, replace it with clean backfill, restore the stream channel, and re-plant trees and shrubs. The work will begin this summer and will be completed this fall.

Superfund is at the very core of EPA’s mission and this important cleanup work will address one potential source of contamination at the Dewey Loeffel site,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “EPA is working closely with the community and is expanding its efforts to involve stakeholders as we advance this cleanup forward working closely with our state and local government partners.”

EPA will hold a public information session on July 17 in Nassau to provide an overview of the recently completed field investigation activities and the upcoming cleanup. EPA will also discuss the opportunity for the formation of a community advisory group (CAG) for the site. A CAG is made up of members of the community and is designed to serve as the focal point for the exchange of information among the local community and EPA, the state regulatory agency, and other pertinent federal agencies involved in cleanup of the Superfund site.

A public information session will begin at 6:00 p.m., with a formal presentation beginning at 7:00 p.m. Members of the project team will be available to answer questions about current and planned project activities.

Public Information Session:
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Open House: 6 - 7 p.m., Presentation: 7 p.m.
St. Mary's Church
Parish Hall (behind the church)
26 Church Street, Nassau, N.Y.

Background:

The stream to be addressed, technically known as Tributary T11A, is a 1,900-foot stream which flows into the Valatie Kill. The sediment and adjacent shoreline soil of Tributary T11A is contaminated with elevated levels of PCBs, which serve as a potential ongoing source of contamination to downstream areas, such as Nassau Lake. In September 2017, the EPA, working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), reached an agreement with GE to conduct the T11A cleanup.

Between 1952 and 1968, an estimated 46,000 tons of industrial waste material generated by several Capital District companies was sent to the Dewey Loeffel Landfill site. The waste included industrial solvents, waste oil, PCBs, scrap materials, sludge and solids. From 1980 until the site was added to the federal Superfund list in 2011, numerous investigations and cleanup actions were performed at the site by GE and the NYSDEC. The cleanup work in Tributary T11A is an immediate action that is being taken to address contaminated soil and sediment in the tributary while the EPA’s long-term comprehensive study of the site continues.

For more information about the Dewey Loeffel Landfill Superfund Site, please visit www.epa.gov/superfund/dewey-loeffel-landfill.

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2.

Tag: Polychlorinated Biphenyls (page 1 of 2)

U.S. EPA, California Settle with UC Regents Over Davis Superfund Site Cleanup

“This settlement is an important step toward addressing several decades’ worth of contamination at UC Davis,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Mike Stoker. “By cleaning up the site, the University is protecting public health and the environment.”

EPA Finalizes Nearly $7 Million Plan to Clean Up Lead-Contaminated Soil at Residential Properties at the Eighteen Mile Creek Superfund Site in Lockport, New York

EPA Announces Clean-Up Plan for Donna Canal and Reservoir Site in South Texas

“The community around the Donna Canal and Reservoir system has lived with the burden of PCB contamination for too long,” said Regional Administrator Anne Idsal. “EPA’s final remedy will address the health risks from contaminated sediment and fish and help keep families safe.”

Pilot Project Advances EPA’s Cleanup of Gowanus Canal Superfund Site in Brooklyn, NY

Cleanup of Contaminated Soil and Sediment in Stream Near Dewey Loeffel Superfund Site to Begin this Summer; EPA to Hold Public Information Session on July 17

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