On January 6, 2008, the Marshall County Emergency Management Agency contacted the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding the discovery of drums that had been dumped on the side of Union Valley road adjacent to Cuffawa creek.
DEQ dispatched environmental contractor, US Environmental Services (USES), to the scene to observe site conditions and conduct stabilizing measures as needed. USES stood drums up, as able, placed absorbents on spilled materials, and covered the drums with visqueen.
On January 6, DEQ contacted OSC Spurlin and requested that EPA assist with further evaluation and mitigation of the drums. On January 8, OSC Spurlin responded to the incident. EPA met with DEQ and the Marshall County EMA at the Site. The OSC observed 30, 55-gallon drums dumped in the right-of-way of Union Valley road. The drums were in poor condition, and liquids had spilled from the drums onto the surrounding soils. The drums were located within 30'-40' of Cuffawa creek. A chemical odor was noticeable near the drums.
Based on the site conditions, the OSC utilized his warrant authority to hire ERRS contractor, USES, to conduct an emergency response. USES was tasked to over pack and stage the drums in an attempt to prevent further releases. USES collected samples from the drums and field testing was conducted on-site to determine the likely nature of the material.
Sampling and testing indicated 28 drums contained liquids of various quantities and 2 drums were empty. Field testing verified the drums contained potential hazardous substances and RCRA waste, including flammable and corrosive liquids. The drums in poorest condition were over packed, and all the containers were moved out of the right-of-way and staged and covered on nearby property. A small quantity of soil, suspected to be impacted by the spillage, was removed, placed onto visqueen, and sampled. The impacted area measuring roughly 90 square feet was scrapped to a depth of 3"-5".
Due to the forecast of severe weather in the area the afternoon of January 8, EPA, DEQ, EMA, and USES demobilized from the site once the staging was completed. USES returned to the site on January 9 to collect and transport samples to a lab for analysis in anticipation of future disposal.
The drums were dumped in the right-of-way of Union Valley road at the approximate coordinates Latitude N 34° 44' 40", Longitude 89° 37' 32". The drums were dumped on the North side of the road partially blocking the Westbound lane. The drums were dumped within 40' of the East side of Cuffawa creek, but the creek was not impacted. The surrounding area is agricultural with the area directly impacted by the Site used for a sod farm.
A slight chemical odor could be detected within 5-10 feet of the drums;however, no evacuation or exclusion/protective zones were established because no persons were near the incident site. EPA's contractor donned appropriate protective gear while handling the materials.
On February 13, 2008, EPA's contractor returned to the Site to conduct load-out of the waste materials. The staged soil was placed into 3, 55 gallon drums and all materials were shipped for disposal. A total of 33, 55- gallon drums were shipped consisting of 31 drums containing haz/non-haz waste and 2 empty containers. All materials were shipped to EQ Industrial Services, Inc for proper disposal.
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All waste transported to EQ Industrial Services, Atlanta, GA for disposal:
Haz Manifest # 002879024 JJK 9A line #1 Drums 24,25, 6, 2, 13, 15, 23, 28, 3, 29, 30 (Hazardous waste liquid, N.O.S. (Selenium), 9, NA3082 PG III
Drums 8 and 14 (Hazardous waste liquid, N.O.S., (Selenium Lead), 9, NA3082, PG II
Haz Manifest # 002879014 JJK 9a line #1 Drum# 16 (Waste Corrosive Liquid, Inorganic, Acidic, 8, UN3264, PGII)
Non Haz # 016719 9a line#1 Drum# 9, 18, 7, 20 (Non Haz Non Reg bulk group 3 Aqueous milky liquid)
Drum# 1, 5, 11, 12, 21, 22, ( Bulk group 5)
Drum# 27, 26, 10, 4 (Bulk group 6 Contact water)
line#4 2 empty drums
Non Haz Manifest# 016721 9 line#1 3 Soil drums
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