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United
States Environmental Protection Agency
Region II
POLLUTION REPORT
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| Date: |
Monday, May 18, 2009
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| From: |
Paul L. Kahn, Michael Hoppe
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| To: |
Paul Kahn, ERRD-RPB
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Tim Grier, USEPA Headquarters 5202G
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Patricia Carr, USEPA-PAD
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Mary Mears, USEPA, Region 2, PAD
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Ellen Banner, USEPA
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John LaPadula, USEPA
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Carole Petersen, USEPA
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Jim Daloia, USEPA
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Eric Mosher, USEPA
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John Higgins, USEPA
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Gregory Deangelis, USEPA Region 2
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Andrew Raddant, Department of Interior
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Deborah Schwenk, USEPA
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Lisa Levy, OSHA
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Michael Hoppe, USEPA
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Kevin McCarthy, Clifton Fire Department
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William Molnar, Sandy Alexander
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Albert Greco, City of Clifton
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Tara Donn, USEPA Region 02 CID
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Leah Escobar, ATSDR
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Denise Zeno, USEPA
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Angela Carpenter, USEPA
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Melissa Dimas, USEPA
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Subject:
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Abrachem Chemical
2 Peekay Drive,
Clifton, NJ
Latitude: 40.8306000
Longitude: -74.1231000
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| POLREP No.: |
37
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Site #:
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A212
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| Reporting Period: |
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D.O. #:
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072
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| Start Date: |
1/2/2009
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Response Authority:
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CERCLA
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Mob Date: |
12/30/2008
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Response Type:
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Time-Critical
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| Demob Date: |
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NPL Status:
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Non NPL
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| Completion Date: |
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Incident Category:
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Removal Action
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| CERCLIS ID #: |
NJR000031831
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Contract #
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EP-W-04-055
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| RCRIS ID #: |
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At 1615 hours on 10/29/08 EPA received a notification from the NRC that a chemical release was occurring at Abrachem Chemical, a bulk chemical packaging facility that leased a building in Clifton, Passaic County, NJ. The NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection was on-scene and requested EPA's presence.
At 1730 hours OSC Ellen Banner and OSC Paul Kahn responded to the scene. The company was found to be storing drums and bulk containers of known and unknown chemicals in 17 56-foot long intermodal shipping carriers (ISCs), stacked 3 tiers high (approx. 35 feet). Only 5 of the ISCs could be opened, and inside those it was observed that drums and bulk containers were staged behind tiers of empty poly drums, giving the impression that the ISCs were used for new drum storage. EPA observed that in the one ISC where the release originated at least one drum was leaking its contents onto a wooden pallet; strong chemical odors emanated from the open door of the ISC and were also pervasive in the general area.
The Operator of Abrachem retained the services of a remediation company, and contractor personnel were advised to lay poly sheeting and begin removing and overpacking the leaking and unknown drums that were readily accessible. Work commenced almost immediately, but at 2100 hours was halted due to lack of adequate lighting and inability to phyusically access the majority of the drums through the narrow doorway.
The Operator of Abrachem and the Owner of the property was issued a Field Expedient Notice, and in response the Operator stated he would initiate a removal action. When his efforts to respond to the release, and threats of a release, proved to be inadequate EPA sought voluntary access to initiate a response action. This access was denied on two occasions. On 12/4/2008 EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) for access. The Operator refused to comply with the UAO and EPA referred the matter to the Department of Justice for a legal remedy. On 1/8/2009 a federal Magistrate issued an access warrant to EPA to initiate a response action at the Site.
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This POLREP is issued to maintain continuity in POLREP numbering only. The next POLREP issued to update removal activities will be #39
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Budgeted |
Total To Date |
Remaining |
% Remaining |
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Extramural Costs
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| ERRS - Cleanup Contractor |
$970,000.00 |
$775,000.00 |
$195,000.00 |
20.10% |
| RST/START |
$0.00 |
$26,000.00 |
($26,000.00) |
0.00% |
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Intramural Costs
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| Total Site Costs |
$970,000.00 |
$801,000.00 |
$169,000.00 |
17.42% |
* The above accounting of expenditures is an estimate based on figures known to the OSC at the time this report was written. The OSC does not necessarily receive specific figures on final payments made to any contractor(s). Other financial data which the OSC must rely upon may not be entirely up-to-date. The cost accounting provided in this report does not necessarily represent an exact monetary figure which the government may include in any claim for cost recovery.
response.epa.gov/abrachemchemical
POLREP #37 Last Updated 5/20/2009
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