United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region V
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

The property is located at 2028 South Sheridan Road in North Chicago, Lake County, Illinois.  Coordinates for the site are latitude 42 degrees 19' 22.6" North and longitude 87 degrees 50' 30.1" West, as determined by Arcview or Landview III. It is located in an  industrial neighborhood with surrounding residential and commercial areas.  The Site is approximately 17.5 acres and is located adjacent to Pettibone Creek which discharges to Lake Michigan.

R. Lavin & Sons, Inc. began operating a secondary copper and brass recovery facility in 1941.  Scrap copper and brass in many forms were imported from off-site sources, melted and refined in furnaces, and then poured into ingots that were shipped to customers.  R. Lavin & Sons, Inc. fell under SIC Code 3341 and had approximately 200 employees.  The facility was upgraded several times in advance of and in response to environmental regulations.  Upgrades included installation of several baghouses; improvement of a closed-loop, cooling water recirculating system; implementation of surface run-off containment and control measures.  Currently R. Lavin & Sons, Inc. is non-operational and in a liquidating bankruptcy with its assets being sold for cash by its creditors.  Areas of concern on-site include the three open top storage tanks with 2.6 million gallons of capacity, the two retention ponds that directly discharge to the storm sewer, the process pit, the slag piles most of which are outside and uncovered, and the numerous baghouses throughout the facility.

Releases of contaminants to the storm sewer have been and continue to be an ongoing problem at this Site.  Wastes generated by furnace clean-outs, flue dust collection, and contact cooling water treatment have been subject to heavy precipitation that has resulted in contaminated runoff being released to the ground and then to the groundwater and/or storm sewer that runs to Pettibone Creek and then to Lake Michigan.  In addition, large volumes of slag were stored outside and were exposed to rainfall.  A 1994 study by Illinois EPA compared sediment concentrations of certain metals upstream and downstream of the Site’s outfall into the Creek.  The contaminants, copper, lead, and zinc were increased by 2387%, 3932%, and 2769%, respectively, downstream of the Site.

U.S. EPA, conducted the removal assessment on May 15, 2002, and confirmed that the Site contains numerous sources of hazardous substances that pose a threat of release to the environment.  The owner of the Site, R. Lavin & Sons, Inc., is in bankruptcy and its assets are being managed by the post-confirmation Creditors’ Committee.  The Creditors’ Committee, on behalf of the debtor/owner, R. Lavin & Sons, Inc. is willing to enter into an AOC to address the three storage tanks on site, and if funds are still available to continue with additional removal actions on-site.

A Removal Site Assessment was conducted on May 15, 2002, to determine the extent of contamination of various potential waste sources currently onsite, and to obtain analytical data to warrant a potential removal action.  Water and sediment samples were collected from 3 storage tanks, process pit, and 2 retention ponds.  Waste samples were collected from the slag pile, cupola slag pile, and the baghouse dust.  The samples were analyzed for Total and TCLP RCRA metals, and totals for 6 additional metals previously identified in their past discharge permits, including beryllium, cobalt, boron, manganese, nickel, and zinc.  The results identified Total levels ranging from 110 to 10,600 ppm for lead and 11 to 160 ppm for cadmium, TCLP levels of 0.85 to 110ppm for lead and 0.0 to 8.6ppm for cadmium. Based on these two constituents the tank and pond sediments, slag, and baghouse dust would be classified as hazardous waste for disposal.  

The Illinois EPA has been the regulatory authority for inspections under the Site’s NPDES permit, and the RCRA Hazardous Waste Regulations.  The Site had been operating under a State Consent Decree since October 12, 1990.  The most recent inspection by the State in December 2000, continued to indicate non-compliance with their NPDES Permit.  The last RCRA inspection was conducted in October 1999, and indicated closure activities had been completed for the north impoundment and pile, and that the facility would continue post-closure care.

An AOC was signed on October 24, 2002, some initial work was started, primarily to remove water from the three tanks onsite.

There are obvious time-critical elements present at the Site.  The hazardous substances are located near industrial and residential areas, and must be immediately addressed.  The proposed removal actions at the site would eliminate the imminent and substantial threats to human health, welfare, or the environment, as outlined in this memorandum.

The following response actions are proposed to mitigate threats posed by the presence of hazardous substances at the Site.  The actions will be prioritized due to limited funds, and will continue until funding is exhausted.

a.  Develop and implement a site-specific work plan including a proposed time line.

b.  Develop and implement a site-specific health and safety plan.

c.  Establish and maintain site security measures during the removal actions, which may include security guard service.

d.  Identify, sample and characterize the hazardous substances located at the site.

e.  Remove all water and sediment from the bulk storage areas, treat water and sediment as necessary to reduce contaminant levels to allow for appropriate disposal.  Implement actions in the following order: 1) Three above ground storage tanks (AST);   2) Concrete pit;  3) Two retention ponds.

f.  Decontaminate the three ASTs, and concrete pit prior to dismantling and/or demolition.

g.  Excavate contaminated soil under the retention ponds as necessary to conform with industrial soil remediation goals.

h.  Remove all furnace slag/cupola slag for appropriate disposal, and decontaminate waste pile storage areas.

i.  Remove all filters and flue dust from all baghouses on site, decontaminate all baghouses.

j.  Remove all other hazardous substances onsite, such as furnace brick, residual products in tanks and/or containers, and laboratory chemicals.
  
k.  Bulk, containerize, and consolidate wastes as necessary in preparation for off-site disposal to a U.S.EPA approved disposal facility.

Currently the three main tanks have been drained to the sludge level, with the water going to the Bristol WWTP (910,000 gal.) and the Kenosha WWPT (90,000 gal.)

-Continue draining the water treatment pit.

-Transfer sludges to the Northeast tank and start cleaning the large tank to the south, the process pit and the northwest tank.

-Stabilize and transport sludges off site to an approved disposal site.