The Site is located in the Michelin Tire Industrial Park in a mixed residential and commercial area in the western section of Milltown, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The Site consists of Building 3 and its immediate surrounding outside areas. Directly adjacent to Buildings 6 and 7 is a chapter of the United Way along Ford Avenue. The Mill Pond is approximately 100 feet east of Building 3. Across the Mill Pond (also known as Lawrence Brook) are numerous single family homes along the pond=s eastern shore and the Mill Pond Park.
During the removal action conducted at the Michelin Powerhouse Site located in Milltown, NJ, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) became aware of a pipe mounted on the southeast wall of a separate building (Building 3) which was partially covered with degrading insulation which was suspected to be asbestos containing material (SACM). This issue was brought to the attention of the building owner/Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) who made arrangements to have this pipe and affiliated insulation removed. The pipe and SACM was wrapped in plastic and stored in Building 3. EPA was not pre-notified of the aforementioned work which was conducted on a weekend, and as a result, EPA did not provide oversight of the abatement work. On December 14, 2006, EPA, an EPA contractor and the PRP’s asbestos contractor conducted a walk-through of Building 3. SACM was observed on all three floors of the building.
On October 28, 2010, EPA collected eleven total bulk SACM samples from all three floors of Building 3 for Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) analysis. Based on the PLM bulk asbestos analysis, the majority of the samples contain chrysotile asbestos. Asbestos containing pipe insulation, much of which has severely deteriorated is present throughout the building on all three floors. This ACM material is extremely friable. Portions of the building (primarily collapsed roofs and missing windows) are open to the environment, facilitating the degradation of the asbestos containing pipe insulation, causing it to fall from the elevated piping to the floor.
