McCullough Oil was a former waste oil storage facility. The Site contains over 100 55-gallon drums and 20 ASTs. Many of the drums and tanks contents contain combustible and flammable materials. Also, the hazardous substances’ pH range from 1 to 14. One of the drums tested positive for halogens. It was estimated that 105,000 gallons of waste oil contained in the ASTs required removal to prevent a major waste oil discharge in the future.
The Site is situated on an approximately 8-acre parcel in rural Alabama. The Coosa River and Mitchell Dam are approximately 1.7 miles northeast of the Site property. An unnamed stream southeast of the site is a tributary of the Coosa River and the topography is sloping downward towards the unnamed stream.
In January of 2005, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) became aware of the potential of environmental impact from the release of unsecured materials at McCullough Oil. ADEM also has evidence that suggests that the site is being used for unauthorized disposal by unknown parties.
Since the last Pollution Report, Alabama Department of Environmental Management's (ADEM) Beverly Blagg was on site overseeing activities. Chilton County Health Department visited the site. During the weeks of January 15, 2007 and January 22, 2007 EPA completed the following removal activities:
* START conducted air monitoring for Volatile Organic Compounds and explosive vapors during all site activities. No abnormal levels were detected. START also documented all site activities including maintenance of the log book and site photographic log.
* An estimated total of 33 cubic yards of sludge were removed and disposed of.
* 5 tanks went off site for recycling.
* An estimated total of 30,000 gallons of waste oil was removed from the tanks and drums. ERRS loaded the waste oil and transferred custody of the waste to EQ, Inc. for final disposal.
The week of January 29, 2007, removal activities will continue. Approximately 15 cubic yards of sludge and 12 remaining tanks are planned on being disposed of this week. All the tanks will be cut open in preparation for the Super Sucker which will remove all the sludge and load it into the sludge boxes on site. The tanks will then be cleaned and recyled.
The tanks are very difficult to access. Many of the tanks are surrounded by trees and have no containment around them.
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