This site is at the Perryville, Maryland water filtration plant. A contractor working onsite on March 5, 2009, removed a transformer containing PCB oils. The level of PCB in the oil was greater than 20%. The oil from the transformer was spread over a portion of the site. The contractor never notified anyone. An operator at the water plant called the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) two days after the removal of the transformer due to the strong odors onsite. The MDE arrived onsite Saturday evening, March 7, 2009, and sampled the oil. Lab results received Monday morning indicated the presence of PCBs at high levels in the oil. MDE requested EPA assistance with the site.
The cleanup of PCB contaminated soil at this site continues. The construction contractor (JLW Associates, or "JLW") hired an environmental cleanup contractor to excavate and removed the PCB contaminated soil. To date, 10 rolloff boxes have been filled with contaminated soil. Four of these boxes have been shipped for proper disposal. The remainder are staged onsite awaiting shipment. These boxes are double lined, covered, and tarped while staged onsite.
Soil samples collected onsite indicate that there is still a significant amount of contaminated soil onsite that needs to be removed. A JLW employee has admitted to pumping approximately 80 gallons of oil out of the transformer, then dumping the oil onto a filter media pile in the staging area onsite. The filter media, consisting of sand, charcoal, and gravel, had been removed from a sand filter at the plant, and was intended for disposal.
An EPA OSC was onsite on the following days observing the progress of the cleanup: March 9, 10, 11, 19, & 26, April 6, 8, 14 & 15, 2009. A Maryland Department of the Environment representative was also on site April 8, 2009.
EPA and MDE will continue to oversee the cleanup action at the site to ensure that the site is returned to preexisting conditions.
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