BACKGROUND
The Warrior Rosin Site is located at 3100 Warrior Road in Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. File information indicates that the Alabama Binder Company deposited tall oil, a viscous black pitch-like substance, into two unlined lagoons on site. The material has been leaking from the lagoons and observed flowing throught the woods toward the Warrior River. The main building on site contains fiftytwo 55-gallon drums. Some of the drums contained powdered materials, were labeled as Caustic Soda, and were exposed or leaking their contents. Twelve above ground storage tanks are located near the main building. The content of the tanks is unknown.
In anticipation of waste disposal, twelve waste samples were collected and analyzed to profile the waste prior to disposal. The samples revealed that the average benzene concentration of waste within the lagoons was higher than the benzene concentration present in the three samples collected from the lagoon seeps during the Emergency Response action. Furthermore the data suggested that the benzene concentration would exceed Landfill Disposal Regulations (LDR) for limits on benzene and that the waste would need pretreatment prior to disposal in a Hazardous Waste landfill. Subsequent Toxicity Compound Leaching Procedure (TCLP) analysis confirmed that the benzene concentrations did exceed the TCLP limits for benzene and that the waste would need pre-treatment prior to disposal in a landfill. For this reason EPA will not pursue landfilling the waste associated with this site and will select an alternative option to mitigate risk associated with this site.
Meanwhile EPA mobilized to the site on July 12, 2010 to reinforce the integrity of the existing soil berm. The lagoon berms have historically exhibited poor integrity with regards to containing the waste. Rainwater accumulating atop the lagoons has further compromised the top of the soil berm creating breaches which allow the waste to flow out of the lagoons. In an effort to temporarily stabilize the lagoons EPA removed the accumulated rainwater and reinforced the existing berms by adding additional soil atop the berms. Because the lagoons are placed on a hill side they receive surface water runoff from the upgradient portions of the property. In an effort to reduce the amount of surface water runoff entering the lagoons a trench was dug around a portion of the lagoons. This trench will divert rain water from entering the lagoons from the upgradient areas of the site. These actions were taken as temporary measure to stabilize the lagoons. A more substantial response action is currently being planned for this site.
EPA will remobilize to the site in the near future to provide additional reinforcement to the soil berm. Additional engineering controls (i.e. soil cap and fencing) will likely be utilized to reduce or limit exposure to the waste.
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