The 22nd Street Station Site (Site) is located at 2200 South Racine, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, in a mixed residential, commercial, and industrial area. The site is bordered to the north by Cermak Road, to the east by an electrical substation owned by Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), and to the south by the South Branch of the Chicago River. The Site is approximately 7.2 acres in size and is occupied by ComEd.
The Site is a former manufactured gas plant (MGP) that operated as an MGP facility from approximately 1862 to 1958. The Site was initially developed by Peoples Gas to produce coal gas. In 1934 it was modified to produce carbureted water gas and oil gas. In 1944, two production sets were modified to produce reformed natural gas. Peoples Gas began leasing portions of the site to ComEd in 1931 and sold the last portion to ComEd in 1959. The MGP facility at the Site stopped operating in 1958 and the plant was entirely dismantled by 1960.
A preliminary assessment of the Site was conducted by Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) in 1988. Peoples Gas performed site investigations between 2000 and 2002. A Remedial Objectives Report (ROR) was developed that recommended the removal of impacted material from several on-site locations.
Remediation activities by Peoples Gas began in April 2006 under the IEPA Site Remediation Program. Remediation consists of excavation and disposal of contaminated soils. Excavation depths range from 3 feet to 30 feet below ground surface. Other site activities by the potentially responsible party (PRP) include daily air monitoring, continuous 24-hour perimeter air monitoring and sampling, confirmation soil sampling, and water treatment and discharge to sanitary sewer. The PRP contractor remediating the Site is Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. (BMcD) along with their subcontractors.
To date, BMcD has conducted the following remediation activities at the Site:
• Impacted material in the east gas holder was excavated to a depth of approximately 20 feet below ground surface (see BMcD map of excavation areas under "documents" on OSC website).
• Impacted material in portions of the former Throop’s Canal was excavated to a depth of approximately 30 feet below ground surface (see BMcD map of excavation areas under "documents" on OSC website).
An Administrative Order on Consent was signed by Peoples Gas in early June 2007 prompting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to begin PRP oversight activities at the Site. The U.S. EPA Superfund Technical and Response Team (START) contractor will perform PRP oversight during the removal activities at the sites. As part of the removal activities, START will collect confirmation samples of soil and water to confirm that the PRP cleanup objectives are being met. Site contaminants of concern are:
• Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX);
• Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH);
• Synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) lead, manganese, and selenium;
• Carbon disulfide [a volatile organic compound (VOC)];
• 2-Methylnaphthalene and 4-chloroanaline [semivolatile organic compounds (SVOC)]; and
• Total lead, manganese, and selenium.
On June 12, 2007, a kick-off meeting was held at the 22nd Street Site between U.S. EPA, START, Peoples Gas, and BMcD, to discuss future oversight activities, documents required, and logistics for transmitting data and documents. The meeting addressed three MGP sites that U.S. EPA would be overseeing that are located within one mile of each other: 22nd Street Station, Hough Place, and Pitney Court. Note that one START member is to cover oversight of these three sites and will rotate being at a different site each day. Both Hough Place and Pitney Court remediations are expected to be completed by end of 2007 while the 22nd Street Station Site remediation is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.
On June 18, 2007, U.S. EPA START mobilized to the Site and began PRP oversight activities. During the reporting period, the PRP performed excavation in excavation cell A3 only (see BMcD map of excavation areas under "documents" on OSC website). Cell A3 is in an area containing buried ComEd power lines and is considered a High Risk Evolution (HRE) area by ComEd. BMcD has supported the power lines in this area using an engineered steel structure. On June 18, 2007, the ComEd Transmission Dispatcher did not allow BMcD to dig in cell A3 because of the high temperatures that day. On three other days, BMcD did not excavate in cell A3 to perform dewatering activities.
A summary of the activities performed during the reporting period by BMcD are as follows:
• Transported 222 loads to CID Landfill in Calumet City, Illinois; all trucks decontaminated prior to leaving site
• Broke up concrete pads located in southeast corner of Area A3 and part of Area F
• Performed perimeter air sampling and air monitoring on a continuous basis (24-hour air samples and air monitoring is conducted around the perimeter)
• Performed health and safety air monitoring during site activities
• Performed street sweeping activities on Racine Street
• Performed daily de-watering activities in excavation area
• Performed water treatment
• Discharged 143,000 gallons of treated water to the MWRD sanitary sewer
• Collected the MWRD monthly discharge water sample on June 28, 2007
In addition to the above activites, Peoples Gas is installing a new gas line in areas previously excavated at the Site.
On June 28, 2007, START personnel collected a sample of the monthly discharge water along with BMcD. The sample is being analyzed for volatile organic compounds, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals. Results have not yet been received for this sample.
Planned removal actions at the 22nd Street Station Site are as follows:
• Excavate soil per the Remedial Action Plan (RAP)
• Transport excavated soil to CID Landfill for disposal
• De-water excavation areas
• Treat water from de-watering activities and discharge to MWRD sanitary sewer
The next steps to be carried out by the PRP are as follows:
• Continue excavation of cell A3
• Continue to de-water excavation areas as required
• Treat water from excavation areas and discharge treated water to MWRD sanitary sewer
• Continue 24-hour perimeter air monitoring and sampling
• Continue air monitoring in work zones
• Continue street sweeping activities on Racine Street
• Continue to decontaminate trucks prior to trucks leaving site
• Collect confirmation samples of cell A3 when excavation complete
• Backfill cell A3 with clean fill when confirmation results are received
None.
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