The W.R. Grace Site is located in Wilder, Campbell County, Kentucky. W.R. Grace ("Grace") owned and operated a vermiculite ore processing facility at 112 North St. from 1960 until the mid-1990's. Residues from the processing operation were disposed of on the Grace property and an adjoining tract as fill material. The vermiculite ore and the residues contain actinolite and tremolite asbestos fibers. EPA Region 8's experience with the Grace facilities in Libby, Montana demonstrates that exposure to this material represents a significant threat to human health.
In January 2000, Grace notified Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection (KYDEP) of the environmental conditions at the site. Grace submitted plans to KYDEP to construct a cap on areas where the presence of asbestos-containing material in soil (ACM) had been documented through a previous site investigation. KYDEP approved Grace's conceptual plans to cap these areas. However, Grace informed KYDEP in September 2001 that the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing prohibited Grace from performing any further remedial activities at the site. In January 2002, KYDEP referred the site to ERRB for consideration as a time-critical removal action.
On November 12, 2003, at approximately 0850, a Red River Ranch tri-axle dump truck, truck #1, lost a portion of its load enroute to Epperson Landfill in Grant County, KY. The incident occurred approximately 5 miles from the site, on I-275 westbound, at mile marker 80 at Fort Wright, KY. About 1 ton of soil was released into the right lane of traffic, scattered over approximately .5 mile. Apparently, on the approach to the bridge, the material shifted and the weight created enough pressure to cause one of the locks (previously damaged) to give way. The pressure was too great and the other 3 locks eventually gave way as well. The drive immediately noticed and pulled over at the first opportunity. The driver called back to the site to report the incident. OSC Bass shut the site down and all personnel were mobed to the scene to begin cleanup. In addition to personnel, one dump truck, a front end loader, several hay bales and 2 water trucks were also mobed from the site to the scene for cleanup. The OSC reported the incident to the NRC (incident #705073) and arrived on-site, with START, at 0910. Additional material procured for the incident included shovels, a streetsweeper, and a vac truck. Fort Wright Police and Fire assisted with shutting down the 2 right lanes of I-275 and controlling traffic. Kenton County Emergency Management also on-scene. Cleanup consisted of shoveling, scrapping, and sweeping the material into a collection and using the loader to store the material in the extra dump truck. The water was then used to wash the remains of the material from grooves in the road, while the hay bales covered any drains. The waste water was immediately consumed by the vac truck. All recovered material was returned to site and disposed of appropriately. Local police and the DOT cited the Red River Ranch truck driver with escape of contents and other minor repairs necessary to the truck. DOT approved for the truck to continue onto the landfill after ERRS contractors used chains to tighten the tailgate and lock it back into place. Weather conditions remained calm during the cleanup and there was no release to waterways. The incident cleanup was completed by 1410 and all lanes of the interstate were re-opened. Contractor personnel and equipment costs for the incident were approximately $4003. This does not include the expense for local officials and their equipment.
All personnel returned to site and continued excavation and transportation and disposal activities. However, inclement weather was forecast for late afternoon, including high winds with gusts up to 50 mph. Therefore, transportation and disposal activities were stopped early and the crew began covering the piles and otherwise weather-proofing the site. A total of 12 turcks were loaded out for the day.
Beginning 11/15/03, trucks will no longer be conducting T&D on Saturdays. A half crew will continue with excavation on Saturdays. This will be done in an attempt to control costs.
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