The Site is located at 7955 West 59th Street in the City of Summit, Cook County, Illinois. Approximately 23 acres in size, the Site is located 10 miles southwest of Chicago, Illinois. The Site is located in the west-central section of Summit, and has the geographic coordinates of latitude 41.46.39 N, longitude 87.49.13 W. The Site is bordered by an industrial complex and 59th Street to the north; by railroad tracks and an automobile junkyard to the east; and by railroad tracks and railroad yard to the south and west. Although the Site is located in an industrial neighborhood, there is significant residential development less than 1000 feet to the southeast of the site.
The Site previously operated as a scrap metal processing/recycling facility for more than 20 years. The scrap metal shredder was utilized for the processing of scrap metal articles, such as automobile hulks and light iron. The shredding process facilitates separation of ferrous and nonferrous metals from nonmetallic materials contained in the feed material; after separation, the remaining material is commonly referred to as shredder residue. Shredder residues consist predominantly of nonmetallic solid material, including plastic, glass, rubber, soil, carpet and fabric. It is an unconsolidated, heterogeneous solid, medium to dark brown in color and typically exhibiting a slight, musty odor.
Key Site features include the main ASR pile, two sets of abandoned railroad tracks, the former materials processing/shredder area, a surface water impoundment located along the northern edge of the Site, and two office/garage buildings currently being leased to trucking companies. The main ASR pile extends along the Site’s eastern border in a north-northeast/south-southwest direction and measures approximately 875 feet along its longest axis. The pile ranges in height from 30 to 70 feet above ground surfaces and in width from 125 to 250 feet. Two separate operations are active at the Site. These companies have leased discrete areas in the west-central and northeastern sections of the Site to conduct their operations. Generally, ground elevations increase by five to 10 feet from north to south, with drainage patterns to the north and northeast. Water and/or leachate from the ASR pile was observed accumulating along the east border and flowing off the Site toward the adjacent automobile junkyard. Other small piles of ASR are located throughout the Site, and many of the berms on Site are constructed of ASR material.
A Removal Site Assessment was conducted on March 15, 2000, to determine the extent of the automobile shredder residue (“ASR”) previously observed at the Site, and to obtain additional analytical data to warrant a removal action. Samples of the ASR were collected from various locations throughout the Site. Eleven samples were collected at 200 foot intervals along the base of the large pile, and eight samples were collected on the top of the pile. Eight surface samples, a sediment sample and one water sample were also collected. The samples were analyzed for Total lead, TCLP metals, and PCBs. The results identified total lead levels ranging from 20.6 to 180,000 ppm, TCLP lead levels of 0.283 to 94.1ppm, and PCBs from 7.6 to 217.7 ppm. The ASR appears to cover an area in excess of 20 acres with depths ranging from one to 10 feet. The largest volume of ASR is located in the pile along the eastern perimeter and is estimated to contain 350,000 cubic yards. In addition to the ASR, the Site allegedly has four underground fuel storage tanks which probably contained diesel fuel for the Site vehicles. The condition and/or possible contamination from these tanks were not addressed during the initial site assessment activities. These potential fuel tanks are outside the scope of this removal action.
Meeting with the ERRS contractor, Earth Tech, Inc., occurred at the site on 11/14/05. Earth Tech will initiate design work and investigate sources of cover material. Mobilization to the site has not occurred, pending negotiations with the surrounding land owner for access rights.
Since the property surrounding the main pile has been acquired through a delinquint tax purchase the former Midwest Metallics facility has basically been split into two separate sites. The main pile comprising approximately 13 acres will continue to be a fund-lead removal addressed by the existing Action Memo. The surrounding property will be addressed under an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), or possible voluntary cleanup through the Illinois EPA.
Although EarthTech is moving ahead with design plans for the consolidation and capping of the pile, meetings with the Mayor of Summit in early Spring of 2006 identified a possible recycling option for the Site. In May of 2006 USEPA met with representatives of Reserve Management Group (RMG)based in Solon, Ohio. RMG proposed to reprocess all of the ASR on site to recover an estimated 15,000 tons of ferrous and non-ferrous metals remaining in the pile. RMG would cover all operational costs, restage the remaining ASR to final design contours and would credit a royalty payment of 10-15% to the Agency's contractor EarthTech.
USEPA referred RMG to our prime contractor EarthTech for an evaluation of their proposal. Negotiations between EarthTech and RMG have been ongoing for several months as RMG would be required to be subcontractor to EarthTech, with the recycling phase being under the USEPA removal authority.
In early August of 2006, RMG mobilized an excavator to the site to further investigate the ASR pile and confirm the approximate amount of metal remaining in the pile. RMG believes the metal content is worth pursuing and will continue to move forward with their proposal.
RMG has submitted a Work Plan to EarthTech and is currently finalizing their negotiations as a subcontractor to EarthTech. The proposed work plan in the Action Memo will be amended to include this recylcing operation. The proposed work to reprocess the ASR is anticipated to take 12-16 months.
The Village of Summit would like to have the entire pile removed to allow redevelopment of the property, but current funding levels do not allow for this option. Since the recycling phase will take in excess of a year it will give the Village additional time to investigate other possible funding ideas.
a. Develop and implement a Site-specific work plan, including a proposed time line for the main ASR pile and adjacent areas, excluding the property recently purchased through the County tax sale.
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. Develop and implement an air monitoring and sampling program during removal activities.
e. Identify, sample and characterize the hazardous substances located at the Site.
f. Provide the necessary resources to excavate, handle and process the on-site ASR, using a dry process, in order to remove recyclable ferrous and non-ferrous metals, reduce overall volume, provide rough re-shaping, and provide monetary value from the recycled metals.
g. Excavate contaminated soil and ASR; stage on-site, as necessary.
h. Consolidate ASR/soil material in preparation for on-site remediation.
i. Construct a modified Subtitle D cap to secure the ASR/soil materials.
j. Provide measures to prevent erosion and control runoff.
k. Install fencing as needed to secure the disposal (capped) area.
Finalized subcontract negotiations between RMG and EarthTech.
Approval of subcontract by USEPA.
Mobilize RMG personnel and equipment to site.
RMG is working with surrounding property owner for possible facilities support.
Contact Illinois EPA and the Village of Summit for any operational issues and/or questions.
The Village of Summit is investigating various options to assist in funding the complete removal of the ASR pile
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