This is an abandoned plating shop referred to EPA by the San Bernardino Co. Fire Department (SBCoFD). On October 9, 2012 OSC Wise conducted a site visit with the SBCoFD and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). During that visit, OSC Wise issued a Notice of Federal Response (NFR) to business operator. A CERCLA General Notice Letter (CGNL) was subsequently issued to the business, business owner and the land owner. The CGNL directed the Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) to remove accumulated hazardous waste and to prevent all off-site discharges of hazardous substances. A copy of the NFR and CGNL are found under the Documents link on this web site.
On November 19, 2012, OSC Wise, the SBCoFD, South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), DTSC and Rialto Code Enforcement (RCE) conducted another site visit. During this site visit, RCE issued a red tag on the building for extreme electrical hazards. Due to the electrical hazards OSC Wise had contacted the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CALOSHA) for the hazards to employees. During CALOSHA's inspection of the site, the business operator informed CALOSHA that the business had not plated since June 2012 and was out of business. Based on this information, the history of hazardous waste notice of violations, the non-existence of any permits (except a industrial discharge permit) or a business license, OSC Wise, DTSC and SBCoFD informed the business owner and the landowner that all hazardous substances and environmental contaminants would have to be removed from the site. To provide a schedule for removal activities, a second NFR was issued to the business’ operations manager outlining the removal tasks and a timeline.
On November 26, 2012, OSC Wise, START, DTSC and SBCoFD conducted a removal assessment of the property. Every chemical container with the exception of the upright tanks in the treatment system were sampled and hazcatted. The second NRF was also issued to the landowner and the actual business owner. The assessment documented the presence of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrosive characteristic wastes present in the plating lines at the facility. The START submitted multiple samples for laboratory analysis. The samples documented the presence of RCRA toxic wastes (chrome, silver and arsenic) and corrosive wastes. The EPA ERRS contractor was also on-site under a pre-planning Task Order to generate a cost estimate for the OSC. The DTSC Off-Highway Contractor, Environmental Dynamics, Inc. (EDI) was also on-site to generate a cost estimate for DTSC for patching the holes in the roof, pumping of the secondary containment around the plating line and removal of the plating liquids on-site.
On January 8, 2013, OSC Wise, S. Berninger, EPA ORC, the START, DTSC and their contractor EDI were on-site. The START completed the removal assessment which included sampling of the tanks in the treatment area, collection of sub-slab soil samples and the collection of structural materials in polishing rooms. The sampling of the tanks documented the presence of corrosives in the tanks. During the assessment at EPA’s request and DTSC’s direction, EDI patched the holes in the roof.
On January 15, 2013, at DTSC’s direction, EDI pumped the contents of the plating line secondary containment into drums. START was present on OSC Wise’s behalf to conduct oversight. EDI removed the material to a TSDF later in the week.
