The Owens Plating Company Site which is located in Rainbow City, Etowah County, Alabama was a metal plating facility that operated three zinc-on-carbon-steel processes. The Site is a former electroplating facility that ceased operations in early 2003 and shut down the premises in 2004.
The Site consists of a large combined building that is approximately 56,500 square feet in size. The site is located at 1440 Sutton Bridge Road in Rainbow City, Etowah County, Alabama. The site sits in a mixed-use community, with industry and residences nearby. The 56,500 square foot facility’s wall structure is compromised and allows for easy access into the facility. The facility has an area containing approximately 117 vats and 388 55-gallon drums along with approximately 1,000 small containers located in the laboratory. These containers range in size from 100 milliliters to 5 gallons. Many of the drums and small containers are unlabeled and the contents of the 177 plating line and water treatment vats have not been identified. The plating vats all have material present, either in liquid or solid/sludge form. The facility has rapidly deteriorated due to the corrosive environment produced by the abandoned plating lines.
Sampling of all vessels and containers on the site was the primary task for this reporting period.
345 – 55 gallon (liquid) drums were sampled. These included poly, metal and stainless steel.
25 gondolas of solids were sampled by homogenizing 5 discrete samples taken on each corner and one from the middle of the gondola
87 containers of solids including 55 gallon drums, 5 gallon pails and 250 gallon totes (solids include floor sweeping, trench material, plating waste and other solid debris
101 plating line vats. These included both liquids and solid material within each vat.
9 waste water treatment pits. These pits were part of the WWTP operations and contained liquids and solids. The pit sizes ranged from 3,000 to 7,000 gallons for a total of 40,000 gallons.
Over 400 bottles and containers were taken from the QC/QA and analytical chemistry laboratories.
• Field chemical tests (Hazscans) were performed on over 1000 samples including samples found in the QA/QC and analytical chemistry laboratories. These tests included pH, flammability, oxidizer, cyanide and reactivity.
• Demolished and removed the roof and building structure including walls from Zones F, G, H, I and part of J. Map of facility and Zone outline included.
• Disposed of 39 roll offs (size: 30 cubic yards) of construction debris associated with building demolition and interior clearing.
• All materials and debris that has a visual presence of “contamination” is pressure washed before disposal.
• Recycled metals associated with building demolishing. ERRS has recycled any salvageable metal from the demolition. Five containers including 2 tractor trailers and 3 (30 cubic yard) roll offs have been removed.
• Pumped liquids from the 9 WWTP pits into 2 – 21,000 gallon frac (Rain for Rent) tanks. These tanks were brought on site to contain liquid as the empty vats on site did not have the structural integrity to use as storage containers.
• Demolished the 2 filter presses associated with the WWTP and removed and pressure washed the filter plates before disposal.
• Finished removing the remaining roof and walls in Zone J and K.
• Total of 49 C&D roll offs removed to date
• Bulked and reacted 55 - 55 gallon drums of acid in SS tank
• Bulked and reacted 8 – 55 gallon drums of caustic with above acid
• Bulked and reacted 4 – 55 gallon drums of oxidizer (H2O2) with above acid
• Bulked and reacted 33 – neutral liquid, soaps, in the two pools and transferred to Frac tank
• Completed analytical on two frac tanks that contain liquids from WWTP pits. Samples were high for Chromium, rendering these two frac tanks hazardous
ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE FOR UPCOMING WEEKS:
Week of July 16;
• Bulk and react neutral liquids and soaps
• Bulk and react flammable liquids
• Pressure wash and dismantle vats containing solids
Week of July 23;
• Pump/bulk /react acid vats
• Pump/bulk/react caustic vats
• Pressure wash and dismantle vats that have been pumped out
• Demobe July 27
Week of July 30;
• Mobe back on Monday July 30
• Pump/bulk/react remaining vats
• Pressure wash and dismantle vats that have been pumped out
• Remove roof structure in Zone E
Week of August 6;
• Pressure wash and dismantle vats that have been pumped out
• Remove roof structure in Zone E
• Pump/bulk/react liquids and solids from vats in Zone E
Week of August 13;
• Bulk solids in WWTP pits from all solid containers
• Pressure wash and dismantle vats that have been pumped out
• Demobe August 17
Week of August 20;
• Mobe August 20
• Bulk solids in WWTP pits from all solid containers
• Remove concrete from affected areas
Continue to interface with Rainbow City local officials and adjacent neighborhoods.
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