The former Biovail facility is located within the Sabana Abajo Industrial Park (SAIP) in the Sabana Abajo Ward, Carolina, Puerto Rico. EPA has conducted and/or overseen various assessment activities within the Industrial Park since 2005. Based upon the results of these assessment activities, chlorinated volatile organic compound (CVOC) contamination has been identified in soil and groundwater underlying both the former Biovail property and adjacent Former Gillette property in the SAIP. CVOC concentrations exceeding 400,000 micrograms per liter (ug/L) in groundwater and 2,700,000 micrograms per kilogram (ug/kg) in soil have been identified in the shallow subsurface on the former Gillette and Biovail properties.
In May 2013 EPA requested the property owner to conduct soil gas and indoor air sampling activities to further describe the CVOC presence at the Former Biovail Site. Caribe Environmental Services (CES) was retained by Valeant International Bermuda to conduct the additional assessment activities. The sampling performed by CES identified concentrations of benzene, chloroform, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, vinyl chloride, tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) that were detected exceeding EPA Screening Levels for Target Shallow Gas Concentrations in one or more of the Sub-Slab Soil Gas (SSSG) samples. PCE and its degradation products were also identified in shallow soil, between a confining layer which occurs at approximately 10 feet below ground surface and the ground surface, and in groundwater across the site. As such, it appears that contaminated subsurface media is the source of elevated concentrations of these VOCs in the SSSG samples. The Indoor Air sampling activities revealed detections of PCE at concentrations below EPA Region 3 Carcinogenic and Non-Carcinogenic Regional Screening Levels (RSLs) for Industrial Air.
The current property owner (International Process Plants) has entered into an Administarative Order on Consent with EPA in order to perfom mitigation of the elevated subslab concentrations of CVOCs. In February 2014 IPP will be installing a protective vapor mitigation system. The mitigation system will consist of 3 sub-slab depressurization systems, similar to those seen most commonly in radon reduction systems. The design plans to depressurize the entire northern portion of the slab, which is the area with the highest concentrations of sub-slab contamination.
