The US EPA received a referral from the NJDEP on November 14, 2014 to assess the former Kil-Tone Company Site located at 527 East Chestnut Avenue, Vineland NJ and the surrounding properties for a CERCLA removal action. The Kil-Tone Company manufactured arsenical pesticides from the late 1910s until the late 1930s.
NJDEP initiated a sampling event in August 2014 at the former Kil-Tone Co. property and the surrounding residential properties to determine if the properties are impacted by historic operations at the Kil-Tone Co. Elevated levels of arsenic are present on the former Kil-Tone property at concentrations in the top 6” of soil as high as 740 ppm and at depth as high as 5,800 ppm (3.5-4’ depth). Groundwater samples collected from temporary well points on the Kil-Tone Site property have arsenic present that ranges from 8.1 ppb to 14,000 ppb.
On June 22nd, ERT began a high-resolution characterization of the Site soils using a CPT/XRF to determine the horizontal and vertical extent of contamination on the Site property. A Geoprobe collected soil cores to obtain visual comparisons for the CPT logs and confirmation samples were collected from the soil cores for lab analyses on the XRF data. The CPT/XRF detected arsenic concentrations at 47,000 ppm and lead concentrations at 119,280 ppm in the soils near the former rail spur. Field XRF of the soil borings collected in this location and in the vicinity of the former grinding house (as seen on historic Sanborn maps) have recorded concentrations of both arsenic and lead at 100%.
On July 1st, the subcontractor hit an unmarked fire suppression line that was located within the vicinity of the highest concentrations of arsenic and lead on the property. A storm sewer catchbasin is located on the 527 East Chestnut Avenue property that drains into the Tarkiln Branch, and arsenic and lead contaminated soil may have discharged into the storm sewer during the water line break.
An emergency removal action was initiated on July 1st to address the water line break. Repairs to the water line were completed on July 3rd and the sprinkler system was flushed and pressure tested. Waste water generated during the emergency response on the Site property was transported off-site for disposal on August 13, 2015. Contaminated soil staged on site in roll offs was transported off site for disposal on September 29, 2015.
On September 4, 2015, EPA was notified about a sewer backup on the Former Kil-Tone Company Site property. The clean out is about 30’ to 35’ onto the Site property, approximately 2’ from the side of the building. According to Landis Sewerage Authority, the sewage has been dispensing onto the ground for several weeks and was not occurring prior to EPA’s subsurface soil investigation.
The possibility exists that the line was damaged during EPA’s investigation and/or the repair of the broken water line. Tracing of the line indicates that the line takes a diagonal from the cleanout and enters a concrete vault. Soil boring ERT-CPT-60 was installed in the location of the newly marked out sewer line near the concrete vault.
Investigation of the sewer line determined that the property is serviced by a septic system and not City Sewer. The septic was pumped to determine if EPA subsurface investigation activities had impacted the pipeline entering the tank. Both the Vineland Health Dept and Landis Sewerage Authority (LSA) were on site during the pumping operation. A total of 1,250 gallons of liquid and sludge was removed from the tank. Immediately after the pumping, both toilets were flushed, and the contents drained into the septic tank. The septic system continues to fail despite being pumped.
At one time during the site investigation activities, the CPT/XRF rig was parked on the septic leach field to collect soil cores from the northern side of the building. There is a possibility that the CPT/XRF rig crushed or damaged one or more laterals within the leach field.
The septic repair will be addressed in RV3.
