At 1615 hours on 10/29/08 EPA received a phone notification from the NRC that a chemical release was occurring at Abrachem Chemical, a bulk chemical packaging facility that leases property in Clifton, Passaic County, NJ. The NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection requested EPA presence at the scene.
At 1730 hours OSC Ellen Banner and OSC Paul Kahn responded to the scene. The company was found to be storing drums and bulk storage containers of known and unknown chemicals in 17 56-foot long intermodal shipping carriers, stacked 3 tiers high (approx. 35 feet). Only 5 of the intermodals could be opened, and inside those it was observed that drums and bulk containers were staged behind tiers of new, blue poly drums which gave the impression that the intermodals were used only for new drum storage.
The owner of Abrachem retained the services of a remediation company which was on the scene, but waiting for EPA to arrive prior to starting work. Contractor personnel were advised to lay poly sheeting and begin removing/overpacking the leaking and unknown drums that were readily accessible. Work commenced almost immediately, but at 2100 hours work was halted due to lack of adequate lighting and the physical inability to access the majority of the drums. Work will resume on 10/30/08 when additional personnel and equipment arrive on-Site.
A meeting was held with the owner, EPA, state, and local authorities at 1000 hours on 10/30/08.
At that time a Field Expedient Notice was issued to Mr. Ted Frey, the owner/operator of Abrachem Chemical.
On Monday, December 1, 2008 the technical sub-contractor, Clean Venture, began sampling drums that had been stored inside two Intermodal Shipping Containers (ISC) and are now staged inside the main building. Clean Venture has sampled approx. 80 drums but has not actually tested any samples. At COB on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 Clean Venture stopped sampling because Abrachem had only paid for two days worth of work. Additional funds have been issued to GTI, the General Contractor overseeing the work, but sampling will not continue until the checks have cleared the bank. GTI indicated that it anticipates Clean Venture will resume work on Thursday or Friday.
The cover photo to this POLREP shows the typical condition of the drums being sampled for haz-cating.
EPA and other government entities such as OSHA, the NJDEP, and the Clifton Fire Department will continue to have a presence at the Site and monitor on-going activities.
See above.
Key issues remain EPA gaining access to the Site to conduct a response action and monitoring activities at the Site pending obtaining access.
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