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The Kenyon Piece Landfill Site is located off Sand Plain Road near the intersection of Sand Plain Road and County Trail [a.k.a. Rhode Island (RI) Route 2] in Charlestown, Washington County, RI. The Site consists of an irregular L-shaped 62-acre parcel of land identified on the Town of Charlestown Tax Assessor’s Map No. 25 as Lot No. 94. The geographic coordinates of the Site, as measured from its approximate center, are 41 26' 21.6" north latitude and 71 38' 19.8" west longitude. Land use within 1 mile of the property is zoned as mixed residential/agricultural/commercial. The 62-acre Site is bounded by Sand Plain Road to the north; RI Route 2 to the east; and residential properties, woodland, and farmland to the south and west. A right-of-way for overhead electric utility lines traverses the south-central portion of the property in a northeast to southwest direction.
RI DEM had MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc. (MACTEC) performed a Targeted Brownfields Assessment (TBA) and Site Investigation (SI). In the MACTEC January 2007 Data Submittal Report, MACTEC identified 7 test pits with buried drums and containers. Analytical results in the report also identified lead, toluene, ethylbenzene, tetrachloroethene, and naphthalene in the soil and groundwater at levels high enough to support the need for a Federal response. In August of 2007, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) notified EPA of the presence of buried drums and containers at this vacant property and requested EPA’s assistance in addressing the Site. On November 6, 2007, EPA initiated a Preliminary Assessment/Site Investigation (PA/SI) which included walking the Site with representatives of DEM, reviewing site background information, sampling of surface soils, and mapping magnetic anomalies using geophysical surveys to verify the areas identified in the TBA. The PA/SI was concluded, and a action was recommended in a closure memo dated June 20, 2008.
As the removal action has progressed since starting on August 4, 2008, the size of the exclusion zone has increased as we have dug up trenches which led into the trees south, east, and slightly west of the initial zone. Thus, the 7 test pits identified by MACTEC significantly underestimated the extent of the area on the Site where buried drums and containers would be found.
Beginning the week of 10/27/2008 and continuing through the week of 11/28/2008:
1) Buried containers and drums continue to be exhumed, overpacked, and staged;
2) As the drums and containers were exhumed, additional areas were cleared and grubbed in order to follow the trenches in which the containers and drums were buried;
3) As the drums and containers were exhumed, they were counted, inventoried, and inspected for any labeling information which might indicate their origins;
4) Air monitoring was performed at the perimeter of the Site throughout invasive site activities and no contaminants were identified as migrating outside the exclusion zone;
5) As of 11/26/2008, the following is the total number of containers and drums that have been exhumed, overpacked, and staged during the course of the removal :
441 55-gallon drums
3913 5-gallon pails
12 1-gallon pails
Depending on the condition of these drums and containers (intact, crushed, leaking, etc.), they we placed in either 95-gallon plastic overpacks, 85-gallon steel overpacks, or 55-gallon steel overpacks.
The expiring ERRS contract will cover the on-site operational expenses and demobe and administrative costs through 11/30/2008. These remaining funds will cover the contract closeout.
Future operational costs, remobe, administrative, T&D, etc. will be transferred to the new ERRS contract on 12/01/2008. Environmental Restoration is the prime contractor for this contract.
Planned Removal Actions
1) Operational activities (buried drums and containers exhumed, overpacked, staged, counted, inventoried, inspected, and air monitoring performed at the Site perimeter) will continue under the new ERRS contract beginning December 1, 2008;
2) The Site will remobilize to the new ERRS contract (a PR will be cut initiating actions under the new contract). Transfer from the expiring ERRS contract to the new ERRS contract will be seamless and daily operations on Site will continue as scheduled;
3) Perform any necessary additional sampling, analysis, characterization, and removal of hazardous substances as deemed necessary by the OSC;
4) Identify and characterize waste streams and develope waste disposal profiles;
5) Provide transportation and disposal of hazardous substances at CERCLA-approved off-site disposal and recycling facilities in a safe and as cost-effective a manner as possible;
6) Backfill any areas where buried drums and containers were removed;
7) Install a 2ft earthen cover over the excavated areas;
8) Repair any response-related damage; and
9) Demobilize all equipment, supplies and personnel as needed when they are no longer required at the Site.
An amendment to the Removal Action Action Memo for this Site has been drafted and forwarded to the EPA Region 1 Removal Program Management. The amendment will request additional funds to pay for the significant increase in transportation and disposal of the drums and containers exhumed and the costs of the earthen cover which will be over the areas where the drums and containers were removed.
The OSC will direct and coordinate with START and ERRS the ongoing removal action. The OSC will continue a dialogue with the residents surrounding the Site in order to answer any concerns they may have. In addition, RI DEM and the town of Charlestown will assist the OSC in coordination of efforts to determine the location of buried drums on the Site.
The town of Charlestown and RIDEM raised concerns regarding the private drinking water wells of residents down gradient of the Site. As a result, EPA will do monthly groundwater sampling of on-site monitoring wells that will be analyzed by RI DEM. This sampling will provide some insight as to whether the ongoing removal action is affecting groundwater.
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