United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region III
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

See previous POLREPS for Site description information.  

A summary of the removal site evaluation (characterization) conducted is contained in the document "Summary of Removal Site Evaluation Analytical Data", dated February 2, 2010, posted to the web at www.epaosc.org/tcca.  In general, the Site contains inorganic and organic contamination of soil (primarily sandblasting grit) and shallow underground water (contaminated by former lagoon contents and tank releases).  Additionally, the Site's ground water and surface water exiting the TCCA property contains detectable concentrations of Site-related contamination.  Finally, samples collected from residential properties adjacent to the Site and from dirt alongside the roadways leading from the Site contain detectable concentrations of inorganic and/or organic contaminants attributable to the Site.  

The TCCA Site contains a large amount of sandblasting grit contaminated by inorganic contamination (e.g., lead) and organic contamination (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)).  The Site formerly contained lagoons; the residuals in these lagoons contain high concentrations of organic contaminants such as benzene, naphthalene, and PAHs and these contaminants have entered into the subsurface soils and shallow underground water.  

The Site property continues to be used by numerous businesses for storage of equipment and materials.  

Based upon the analytical results of the samples collected during the removal site evaluation and an evaluation of the potential threats posed by the hazardous substance contamination at the Site, EPA Region III approved additional funding to conduct additional response actions at the Site. The total funding now available for response actions is $2,650,469.  The response action will generally include actions intended to consolidate onto the TCCA property those hazardous substances posing a threat which have migrated from the property and to minimize further release of hazardous substances from the Site through a combination of disposal and covering actions.

After obtaining formal access to the railroad property adjacent to the TCCA property, EPA re-initiated the response action at the Site.  Initial actions focused on characterizing the contaminants upon the railroad right of way, evaluating drainage from the TCCA property, evaluating details of the pending response action (such as erosion controls), and coordinating with the Site owner, users of the property, and State and Local government entities.  The OSC informed adjacent residents of the general nature of the pending response action and then re-initiated response activities on October 19, 2010.

A Time Critical Removal Action is ongoing and current activities are described in the next sections.

85 truckloads of non-hazardous large lagoon waste was shipped offsite to Clean Earth in Morrisville, PA.  This volume equates to approximately 2,045 tons of material.  To date, approximately 6,337 tons of non-hazardous large lagoon waste has been disposed.  

The initial estimate of volume for the large lagoon, based on subsurface investigation and historical photos, proved to be low.  The initial estimate was 6500 tons of material.  EPA approved an additional 2500 tons of material for the disposal subcontractor.  It is now expected that the small lagoon will also have more waste than initially anticipated.  

The excavated area of the large lagoon continues to be backfilled with the stockpiled sand.  The sandpile is half of its peak volume and will continue to be reduced as backfilling continues.  The sand is being backfilled to approximately 1-1.5 feet below final grade.  A marker fence, orange plastic, is being placed on top and then covered with a minimum of 12 inches of clay material.  On top of the clay material is approximately 4 inches of compacted gravel.    Photos of the various stages/layers are available on the website.

The grade will divert the majority of the water towards the center of the Site and towards the railroad tracks (into the sediment pond).  Special care is being taken to avoid routing water towards residential properties.  

Air monitoring was conducted several times a day around the Site perimeter specifically near residential properties.  Odors continue to be present during the excavations and truck loading.  However, air monitoring indicates no levels of concern.  

Due to fairly wet conditions, no visible dusts were generated from the truck loading procedure.  However, mud is being tracked by the trucks.   To minimize the mud being tracked to the roadway, a stone pad was constructed to removed mud from the truck tires.  It is important to note, the trucks are not traveling into contaminated areas.  The mud is "clean" mud and poses no health threat.  Efforts will continue to minimize mud tracking and dust control as needed.  

PADEP officials visited the Site on February 17th and Township officials on the 18th.  They were given a Site tour and any questions they had were answered.  ,

EPA met with concerned residents along Orlemann Ave and will continue the outreach effort by adding those interested to an email update list.  He also directed them to the website which has extensive Site information.

Complete the excavation, backfilling, and capping of the large lagoon.

Begin work in the small lagoon.