1.1.2 Site Description

     The Transportation Drive PCB site is located in a commercial area of Hazleton, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The majority of the site is currently owned by Walp Trucking Incorporated, who operates a trucking dispatch and service center. An unused portion of the site is also owned by Consolidated Lands, Incorporated.  Prior to 1983 the site was reportedly the location of a facility that scraped electrical equipment including transformers and large capacitors.

     EPA’s TSCA program referred the site to EPA’s Removal Program in April 2014 reporting that the property owner excavated a drainage ditch and uncovered several PCB large capacitors. Site assessment activities conducted at the site in May and June 2014 revealed electric equipment related scrap on the ground around the perimeter of the site and PCB concentrations that exceed the Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA) action level of 50 mg/kg.  The maximum concentrations of PCBs detected in a soil sample was 210,000 mg/kg.

     The OSC issued Special Bulletin A and Polrep 1 for the site on November 14, 2014 to take actions to secure the site while additional assessment was conducted. An Action Memorandum was signed on June 26, 2015 authorizing a Removal Action to mitigate the threat posed by PCB electrical equipment and PCB contaminated soil and debris at the site. Personnel and equipment were mobilized to the site on August 11, 2015 to begin site work.

CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS POLREP: It was discovered that POLREP 5 was a duplicate of POLREP 4.  POLREP 5 was never issued and has been removed from the POLREP list to avoid any confusion. 


Please see previous Polrep's for additional background information. 

2.1.1 Current Activities

- ERRS excavated an additional 6-10 inches of soil in areas at the southwest corner of the Walp Trucking property (location of samples C-001 and C-002).  Confirmation samples were collected from these areas and analytical results show that the samples contain PCBs at concentrations less than 1 ppm. 

- ERRS excavated soils to a depth of approximately 24 inches in the northeast corner of the site near Transportation Drive.  Approximately 78 large capacitors were uncovered while excavating in this area.  To date, a total of approximately 88 large capacitors and 2 small transformers have been found and are being stored on site in drums pending disposal. 

-  ERRS continued transporting soil off site for disposal.  A total of 33 truckloads (approx 757 tons) of PCB contaminated soil was transported off site during the week of Oct 19-23.   A total of 21 truckloads (approx 482 tons) of PCB contaminated soil was transported off site during the week of Oct 26-30.  All waste was transported for disposal as PCB Remediation Waste at Wayne Disposal Waste Treatment in Belleville, Michigan.  To date a total of 63 truckloads (approx. 1,433 tons) of PCB Remediation Waste have been transported off site for disposal. 

- Contractors contacted PA One Call and conducted a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey in areas of the parking lot where excavation is planned.  Utility lines were identified and marked. 

 - START conducted air monitoring for particulates.  No action levels were exceeded.

- ERRS cleared trees and debris in parts of the southwest corner of the Walp Trucking property in preparation for planned excavation.

 - Removal activities have cut-off a drainage ditch that ran through the site.  Water is now being pumped from a collection pond located prior to the drainage ditch to a culvert pipe that allows water to drain off site.  Water is being pumped through a filter bag to remove sediments. 

 - ERRS scraped approximately 6 inches from the surface of an access road that runs adjacent to the drainage ditch.  This area was previously determined to not contain PCBs greater than 1 ppm.  However, surface contamination is believed to have resulted due to use of this path to transport contaminated soil across the site. 

- START collected samples from the parking lot, the drainage ditch and the area where water drains on the opposite side of Transportation Drive.  Results are expected next reporting period.