Garvey Elevator operated a grain storage/processing facility located at 2315 West Highway 6, Hastings, Nebraska 68901 [Garvey Elevator Site, CERCLIS ID. NO. NEN000704351]. Past releases of carbon tetrachloride at the facility have contaminated soil and ground water. Garvey Elevator became aware of the contamination at its Hastings, Nebraska facility and submitted an application for participation in the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) Remedial Action Plan Monitoring Act Program (RAPMA Program or know more commonly as Voluntary Clean-up Program) on April 13, 1995. Since then, Garvey Elevator has (1) installed several monitoring wells both on-site and off-site to characterize the extent of ground water contamination, (2) conducted soil sampling to characterize the extent of soil contamination, (3) installed and is operating a soil vapor extraction and treatment system to remove soil contamination (4) installed and is operating a ground water extraction and treatment system to remove contaminated ground water, and (5) has supplied some 30 plus local residents/businesses with an alternate source of water due to their water supply wells being contaminated. In December 2003, NDEQ referred the site to EPA in case Garvey Elevator is not able to pay for the clean-up and federal monies are needed. Thus, EPA has been overseeing site activities since December 2003. The site was listed on the EPA National Priorities List on September 14, 2005, making the site eligible for the expenditure of federal monies. The ground water contamination is approximately one mile wide and extends east from the facility approximately 4 miles.
An Action Memorandum was finalized in May 2006 and the EPA assumed the distribution of bottled water. In the spring 2008 the EPA was notified that Garvey Elevators intended to file for bankruptcy and would discontinue operation of the recovery systems and supply alternative water supplies. In August, samples were collected from area residences and monitoring wells. At the time, both the groundwater extraction and SVE systems were inoperative. Both systems were activated by November 2008. An enclosure, providing a climate-controlled atmosphere, was constructed to provide a more robust operating system.
In February 2009, Hastings Utilities awarded a contract to a local vendor to extend two water lines: approximately 5,280 feet on Showboat Blvd between East J Street and Idlewilde Road and approximately 1,225 feet on Wabash Avenue to Idlewilde Road. Both of those areas are under the impact of the contaminated plume from the site. The contract included hookups to those water lines for 13 homes. That phase of water line hookups was completed in late spring 2009. The contract was modifed in early winter of 2009 to allow for an extension of a third water line: approximately 1,340 feet on Baltimore south to Pawnee Creek. That extension allowed for the hookup of five additional homes. That phase was completed in May 2010. The projects are being funded with EPA monies.
Operation and maintenance of the SVE and ground water extraction systems were handed off to the remedial program on July 30, 2012.
