United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region I
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

The one acre Birch Swamp Road Site (the Site) is located in Warren, Rhode Island, off of an unnamed, unpaved access road that runs east-to-west, intersecting Birch Swamp Road to the west.

EPA conducted environmental investigations at the Site in July 2007, April and August 2008.  Sampling results indicated elevated levels of heavy metals (including lead) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to be present in surface soils at the Site, exceeding the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s (RIDEM) most stringent residential cleanup criteria.  For additional information on the Site background please refer to “POLREP #1 – Initiation of Action.”  

This recently completed EPA fund-lead cleanup addressed the lead- and PCB-contaminated surface soils on the property.

Excavation work began during the first week of September 2008 and was completed on Tuesday, November 25, 2008, with contaminated soils being stockpiled in a staging area located within the foundation footprint.  

The contaminated areas within and outside of the foundation were divided into grids approximately 25 ft x 25 ft square.  Each grid was excavated down to 6 or 12 inches below ground surface (bgs), depending on the initial sampling results, and subsequently sampled along the floor and perimeter sidewalls.  Additional rounds of excavations and sampling were performed for grids that did not meet the cleanup criteria, up to a maximum of 3 feet bgs.  Contaminated grids along the roadway immediately to the south of the foundation were excavated down to 2 feet bgs, due to encountering groundwater.

The final loads of contaminated soil were shipped off-site on Tuesday, December 2, 2008.  A total of 57 tractor trailer loads of soil were shipped off-site to EPA-approved treatment and disposal facilities.  Twenty-three (23) of the loads comprised 543.01 tons of lead- and PCB-contaminated soils (PCBs greater than 50 parts per million [ppm]).  The other 34 loads comprised approximately 1,200 tons of lead- and PCB-contaminated soils (PCBs less than 50 ppm).

In addition to the air monitoring performed throughout the cleanup, sampling for lead and PCBs was also conducted on the roadbed material being left in place (from improvements to the unpaved haul road necessary to support the heavy traffic during the cleanup) to verify that the transportation plan worked to prevent contamination from migrating off-site.  All samples collected showed lead levels less than 50 ppm and PCB levels less than 1 ppm (the site residential action levels were 150 ppm for Lead and 10 ppm for PCBs).

The current removal action has been completed.  All excavated areas were backfilled with clean fill materials, with the exception of one grid in a wetland area which will be allowed to restore naturally.  

All heavy equipment, personnel, and supplies were demobilized from the site on Friday, December 12, 2008 and Monday, December 15, 2008.  A final site walk was also conducted on December 15, 2008 with EPA and the property owners.