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The Hassan Barrel Company site is located at 1605 Summer Street in Ft. Wayne, Allen County, Indiana. The site occupies approximately 7 acres in a primarily residential area. The site is bordered by the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks to the north, residential property to the east, Reynolds Street and residential properties to the south, and a wooded area and abandoned industrial facility to the west. The geographic coordinates for the site are latitude 41° 04' 15" north and longitude 85° 06' 23" west.
The HBC site began drum recycling operations in 1954. In July 2003, the current owner, Mr. Allen Hersch, closed the doors to the site, locked the gate to the property, and walked away from the site. On October 6, 2004, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) came onsite to collect their gas meters due to nonpayment. After entering the property, NIPSCO observed numerous drums stacked on top of each other around the property. After seeing the numerous drums, NIPSCO notified Allen County officials of what their personnel had observed while at the site. Allen County notified the State of Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) which in turn notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA).
Utilities at the site (gas, electric, water, and sewer) have all been disconnected. The sewers were plugged by the Water Pollution Control Agency in the 1990s when HBC began dumping waste down the sewer that was not in compliance with discharge limitations.
According to a former employee, oil drums were processed daily at the site. The drums would enter the site, be loaded onto a conveyor in the east-central portion of the site, and be washed, rinsed, and inspected. If the drum did not meet inspection requirements, it would be washed and rinsed again. Once the drum met inspection criteria, it was blasted, tested for leaks, and then painted (the color the customer requested), and loaded onto a trailer for delivery. The former employee indicated that the 17H drums would be hauled to rebuilders in Chicago that had advanced methods of removing residual material from the interior of the drums. At his time of employment, very few drums were kept outside on the ground. Also, a small inventory of poly drums was kept on site for purchase. Those poly drums that could not be sold were sometimes sent to a recycling facility in Ohio. It was also indicated that Mr. Hersch would not accept drums that had stored insecticides, pesticides, or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB).
Emergency actions began at the site on October 7, 2004.
U.S. EPA On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) Simes and Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START) member McCarty arrived at the HBC site on October 7, 2004. IDEM personnel was also onsite. OSC Simes provided a tour of the site and START performed written and photographic documentation of the surroundings. Three buildings were observed onsite; an office, the main recycling building, and what was referred to as the “Hazardous Waste Storage Building” (HWSB). No entries were made into the buildings at that time; however, 55-gallon drums, 5-gallon pails, and vats could be seen through the doors or windows. Stainless steel, galvanized steel, and poly drums were observed throughout the site. In some areas the drums were staged standing up but a majority of the drums were stacked on their sides in rows anywhere from two to six high. Most of the stainless steel drums were rusted and deteriorated. Approximately 10,000 drums, both empty and containing waste material, were observed at the site. Twenty tractor truck trailers were located throughout the site property as well as an additional 14 tractor truck trailers were parked outside of the site property. Most trailers were open and had drums or containers stored in them.
Two manmade lagoons were observed, one on the south side of the buildings and the second on the east side of the building. Drums were observed in the eastern lagoon. A hose or drainage pipe was observed coming from the building and ending in the manmade lagoons indicating what was a probable method of waste disposal after the sewers had been plugged.
Two roll-off boxes filled with liquid and sludge were observed sitting directly in front of the site entrance. The boxes were not covered and had started to leak from the bottom onto the surrounding soils.
On October 8, 2004 Emergency Response and Rapid Services (ERRS) contractor Environmental Restoration (ER) arrived onsite to begin to secure the site. ER covered the two roll-off boxes with new tarp and built a berm around the area where sludge had been leaking out onto the soils.
During the week of October 12, 2004, U.S. EPA, START, and ERRS returned to the site to continue emergency response activities. ERRS began clearing brush and trees from the fence line in order to determine if a fence was present and what areas would need to be repaired. ER also began to segregate drums in the southeastern portion of the site and crush all empty drums. All completely empty drums are being crushed and sent to OmniSource, a local scrap yard, for recycling. All RCRA empty drums are being crushed and landfilled. During crushing of the empty drums, air monitoring was performed using a photoionization detector (PID). No readings around the perimeter of the site or in the hot zone were observed.
START performed a more detailed site reconnaissance of the building. Level B personal protective equipment (PPE) was donned for the building reconnaissance as well as screening and sampling unknown drums. The building contains approximately 500 drums, about 250 still containing material. Four vats were also observed, three of which contained liquid waste. The floor was caked with material and standing water, some places as much as 3- to 4-inches deep. The drums observed inside of the building appeared to be more paint drums. Some drums had “Flammable Liquid” or “Corrosive” labels. One drum also had a “Toxic” label. The roof is deteriorating in the eastern portion of the building and water has leaked in.
Samples were collected from various containers inside and outside of the building as well as soil and water samples. Five samples were collected from five different drums, three inside of the building and two outside of the building. In addition, a composite sample of the building floor and a liquid sample from one of the vats were also collected. Soil samples were collected from both the northern and southern portions of the site property. Surface water and sediment was collected from both manmade lagoons and composited into two respective samples. Lastly, the standing water and the sludge in one of the two roll-off boxes were sampled. On October 15, 2004, a grab sample was collected of the soil in the ditch area located north of the site between the stack of poly drums and the railroad tracks. The sample was collected from an area where drums had fallen over and material was observed to have leaked.
START also conducted an inventory of the tractor trailers onsite. A total of 34 trailers was numbered; nine of which were empty and five of which could not be accessed due their current placement. The remaining 19 trailers held containers but most appeared to be empty with the exception of five trailers which appeared to be partially to completely full of drums that were observed to be at least one-quarter to completely full of material. Additional items were found in the trailers such as hydraulic drum crushers and an industrial air compressor.
A public meeting was held the night of October 14, 2004. State, county, and city officials as well as residents were in attendance. Background information on the site as well as the U.S. EPA’s involvement was presented and questions from the residents were taken and answered.
ERRS finished clearing the fence line during the week of October 12, 2004. Approximately 1,060 drums (620 for recycling and 440 for landfill) were crushed and hauled off site.
During the week of October 18, 2004, U.S. EPA, START, and ERRS returned to the site to continue emergency response activities. ERRS continued to crush empty drums in the southeastern portion of the site for recycling and landfill. START performed air monitoring with the PID during crushing of the drums. No readings around the perimeter of the site or in the hot zone were observed.
ERRS also began to separate the empty drums from drums with material in them that were stored outside along the southern wall of the building. Three empty trailers were brought into the site to be used to store the separated drums. Two of the trailers were filled with full 55-gallon drums previously stored outside in direct contact with the soil. The third trailer was used to store empty poly drums that need to be disposed or recycled. The empty drums stacked in front of the HWSB were moved. The drums in the HWSB appear to be old and deteriorated. In the eastern half, four drums are on a pallet and the pallets are stacked three high. In the western half, some drums are stacked on top of each other but most are in a single layer. The drums appear to be sitting directly on the soil and have leaked. The roof is missing in places allowing rain water to enter and fill the open drums. Only one label was readable and it indicated the drum had at one point contained Diisocyanate. Approximately 150 to 175 drums are currently stored in the HWSB.
ERRS dug post holes and put in fence posts in the areas around the site boundary where new fencing was required . A total of approximately 4,122 drums (3,327 for recycling and approximately 795 for landfill) were crushed and hauled off site for the week of October 18, 2004. To date, approximately 5,182 drums have been crushed and hauled off site.
U.S. EPA, START, and ERRS will return to the site on October 25, 2004 to continue emergency response activities including stabilizing and securing the site for demobilization while awaiting additional money for a removal action. ERRS will continue to crush empty drums and place in the appropriate roll-off boxes for recycling or disposal. ERRS will also continue to clear an area in the southeastern portion of the site where the trailers located outside of the property can be moved to within the site property. Drums with material will be separated and stored in empty trailers. ERRS will continue to construct a new fence in the areas needed to help prevent access to the site. START will continue to air monitor, provide oversight, document site activities, and collect any additional samples that might be required.
After completing the emergency response activites, U.S. EPA would like to return to the site to begin removal actions which could include sampling, hazcatting, disposal of hazardous wastes, and possible soil removal.
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