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Old Brookfield School Lab

All POLREP's for this site Old Brookfield School Lab
Brookfield, MO - EPA Region VII
POLREP #1 - First and Final POLREP
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On-Scene Coordinator - Doug Ferguson 11/18/2008
Time-Critical - Removal Action Pollution Report (POLREP) #1
Start Date: 10/4/2008 Completion Date: 11/18/2008
Pollution Report (POLREP) #1
Site Description
In response to a release and/or threatend release of hazardous substances, a removal action to prevent human exposure to the hazardous substances abandoned at the Old Brookfield School Lab Site in Brookfield, Missouri, was completed by the US EPA on November 12-13, 2008.  Repeated attempts to have the potentially responsible party (PRP) hire a licensed clean-up contractor to clean-up the property were unsuccessful.  US EPA received a signed access agreement, which granted EPA and it's representatives authority to conduct the clean-up of the labsite property, on October 28, 2008.  Additionally, in a voicemail to EPA on or about October 28, 2008, the PRP stated they did not have the financial resources to pay for the clean-up.  

During the removal, chemical containers in the laboratory and storage area near the boiler room of the facility were characterized, overpacked, and disposed of off-site.  Additionally, about 1,000 gallons of degraded fuel in the above ground storage tank were removed from the site as the condition of the tank is uncertain and no means of assessing potential leaks from the tank were available.

Several containers in the classroom/storage closet were observed to have released their contents onto and through the shelves and the floor of the room. Trespassers have entered the building, accessed the chemical storage closet and some trespassers were recently found by the local police department to have taken chemicals from the site.  

The site did not have any environmental controls to prevent releases from freezing/weathering of chemical containers.  Many of the containers had the original label on them and their contents, if released, could have caused a fire, explosion and/or the release of toxic vapors.  Furthermore, the absence of substantive physical barriers and lack of security to deny entry to the site make it possible that trespassers could enter the site again.  

Because adequate and timely clean-up arrangements were not secured for the site and the PRP stated they lacked the resources to cleanup the site, a removal action was completed by US EPA at the site to stop existing releases and prevent future releases as well as prevent human exposure to hazardous substances abandoned at the site.



Key Issues
About 600 people live within a one mile radius of the site.  The wind direction was from the north during the removal action.

 
Disposition Of Wastes
Wastes were over-packed and delivered for disposal to Viola ES Technical Solutions.

Waste Stream Quantity Manifest # Disposal Facility
Waste Toxic Liquids, Organic, n.o.s 220 pounds 001842425 Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC located at 7 Mobile Avenue, Sauget, Illinois 62201.  (618) 271-2804
Waste Flammable Liquids, n.o.s. 190 pounds 001842425 Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC located at 7 Mobile Avenue, Sauget, Illinois 62201.  (618) 271-2804
Waste Corrosive liquids, n.o.s. 95 pounds 001842425 Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC located at 7 Mobile Avenue, Sauget, Illinois 62201.  (618) 271-2804
Waste Aerosols, Flammable 20 pounds 000213522 Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC located at W124 N9451 Boundary, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051.  (262) 255-6655
Waste Arsenic Trioxide 5 pounds 000213522 Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC located at W124 N9451 Boundary, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051.  (262) 255-6655
Waste Mercury Iodide 5 pounds 000213522 Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC located at W124 N9451 Boundary, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051.  (262) 255-6655