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.

 Please see previous Polrep's for additional background information. 


Please see previous Polrep's for additional background information. 

2.1.1 Current Activities

-  Site personnel mobilized back to the site on January 4, 2016 to continue Removal activities.

- ERRS continued excavating soil on CLI's property.  Excavation has been completed on all areas of CLI's property where excavation is required with the exception of the area under and adjacent to soil stock piles.  Most areas on CLI's property were excavated to a depth of 18-24" depending on analytical results.  Approximately 73 loads of clean fill where transported on site and placed in excavated areas.  Three capacitors were found while excavating soil on CLI's property.  A total of 4 capacitors have been found on CLI's property to date.

- Test pits (4) were dug through the mound of soil and rock that is located on CLI's property.  This allowed EPA to observe whether there was electrical debris visible inside or under the mound and to collect samples.  Visual observation and analytical sample results showed that most of the pile was not contaminated with PCBs.  However, some PCB contaminated debris and soil was pushed up onto the southern edge and top of the pile.   These areas were removed and placed in the stock pile. 

- On each property, ERRS separated stockpiled soils into separate piles for soils that came from areas where assessment sampling indicated PCB contamination was less than and greater than 50 ppm PCBs.  So, there was greater than 50 ppm and less than 50 ppm piles on both Walp Trucking's and CLI's property (total of 4 piles).  Analytical results for disposal samples collected from the piles indicates that soil in all four piles contains PCB at concentrations greater than 50 ppm.  ERRS combined the 2 piles located on Walp Trucking's property.

 - ERRS modified the drainage ditch adjacent to the site trailer to prevent storm water from overflowing the east edge of the ditch. 

- On Walp Trucking's property, areas C-016 (48") and C-017 (24") were excavated and backfilled.   

- A START engineer was on site to conduct a survey of the property to assist with storm water management.  

- START conducted air monitoring for particulates.  No elevated concentrations were reported. 

--  Due to frozen site conditions and to allow ERRS time to arrange Transportation and Disposal of stockpiled soil and capacitors, all site personnel were demobilized from the site on January 21, 2015.  It is expected that personnel will mobilize back to the site in early March 2016 to conduct load out of stockpiled soil for off site transportation and disposal.