1.1.1 Incident Category

 Emergency Response.

1.1.2 Site Description

Former used oil and waste recycling facility.

1.1.2.1 Location

137 J J Holcomb Rd, Picayune (Nicholson), Pearl River County, Mississippi

1.1.2.2 Description of Threat

Site is comprised of used oil and other oil materials stored in totes and drums which are leaking in an unsecured building and migrating to the ground outside. Spilled elemental mercury has been found scattered in an open and unsecured area. Abandoned aboveground storage tanks containing waste oil are located in a secondary containment area which has filled with rainwater, the freeboard is undetermined. The secondary containment areas contain oil saturated sorbents and there is a sheen on the trapped water. There are residences within 50-100 feet outside the fence line on three sides of the facility. A small creek flows on the southern border of the facility and a stream on the northern border.  Access to the property, its buildings, and their contents is unsecured. 

1.1.3 Preliminary Removal Assessment/Removal Site Inspection Results

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) requested that EPA Emergency Response, Removal and Prevention Branch (ERRPB) conduct a removal site evaluation (RSE) at the JCC Environmental Site. The business filed bankruptcy in 2013 and was subsequently abandoned. EPA OSC Huyser met with MDEQ and one of the former JCC Environmental partners on May 17, 2016, to walk through and inspect the facility. Approximately 150 drums and 100 totes were found, most of which were full or at least partially filled and some of which were leaking. Contents of the full containers mostly appeared to be oil. Buckets marked corrosive and universal waste were found, some of which reportedly contained liquid elemental mercury waste. The former partner indicated that vandals may have broken instruments containing mercury on the floor of one building. 

There are three buildings located at the Site. The north building is closed and contains only a few drums, totes, and buckets. The west building is open and contains a majority of the drums and totes. The south building is office space. There are two above-ground storage tanks (ASTs) at the site with capacities in excess of 10,000-gallons each. Thermal imaging suggests that one tank is approximately 20% full while the other has a liquid level of only 12 inches. The tanks are within a shallow secondary containment area that is filled with rainwater and has a sheen on the surface. There are drums and totes within the secondary containment area as well.

2.1.1 Narrative

ERRS continued clearing debris and staging and overpacking drums in the west building on 5/22/2016. START continued cataloging and sampling containers in the west building as they were repositioned.

On the morning of 5/22, ERRS and OSC Huyser manually transferred mercury which had been found in the bottom of an open bucket to 10 oz glass jars.  The bucket, found in the southeast corner of the west building, contained a quantity of liquid of mercury estimated at 9 pounds.Minimal mercury beads were found on the ground nearby. The ground was cleaned with the mercury vacuum.

Removal of mercury-contaminated debris and dirt continued through 5/22. Removal and decontamination of drums which had been in the mercury-contaminated area was completed near mid afternoon. Cardboard containers that were empty and those that contained florescent bulbs were removed from the west building and placed on plastic to ventilate in the sun. Removal of several stacked drums and a pallet of boxed florescent bulbs required entry into the building by the skid steer. Plastic was laid on the ground prior to skid steer entry and was bagged upon completion. At the end of the day, the floor was sprayed with the magnesium sulfate solution and swept for debris. The last mercury beads were discovered near the west wall of the west building; they were marked to be vacuumed the following day.

Hazard categorization progressed throughout the day and processed approximately 50 samples which is up from 34 samples the previous day.

2.1.2 Response Actions to Date

• Cleared debris from north building
• Began cleaning sumps in north building
• Began staging drums in north building
• Delineated extent of spilled mercury contamination
• Continued cataloging containers
• Continued sampling containers for hazard categorization
• Cleared debris from west building
• Began staging drums in west building
• Began removal of wastewater from secondary containment area
• Began mercury removal
• Began decontaminating mercury-contaminated area
• removal and decontamination of mercury-contaminated drums
• Began hazard categorization

2.1.2.1 Current Container Count

2.1.3 Enforcement Activities, Identity of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs)
The former partner declared that there were no available funds associated with the business to conduct the response and there were no other fund sources to undertake the action. Written access to conduct the response was not granted until May 18.

2.1.4 Progress Metrics

2.2.1 Anticipated Activities

Primary objectives will be evaluating safe working and operating conditions at the site, initial cleaning of spilled waste materials, securing containers and assessing the contents of each, then segregating by waste streams for later disposal.

2.2.1.1 Planned Response Activities

• Screen working areas to delineate potential mercury contamination; (COMPLETE)
• Catalog and document all containers throughout the Site and stage in a secure location to await disposal; (ONGOING)
• Overpack or repackage materials from leaking containers; (ONGOING)
• Sample waste materials for hazard categorization and profiling for treatment and/or disposal; (ONGOING)
• Remove free liquids and wastes from secondary containment area; (ONGOING)
• Remove liquids and sludges from above-ground storage tanks and decontaminate, if necessary;
• Excavate stained soils resulting from previous on-site spills;
• Perform additional surface and soil screening for additional contaminant hazards, if necessary;
• Perform air monitoring for on-site health and safety; (ONGOING)
• Treat and/or dispose of waste materials from the Site. (ONGOING)

2.2.1.2 Next Steps

Complete the removal and decontamination of mercury in the west building. Decontaminate the floor in west building (e.g. mercury-contaminated areas and areas where waste oil, water, and other fluids have spilled). Complete the staging of drums in west building.

Begin decontamination of the tank farm and secondary containment area

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2.2.2 Issues

No new information to report in this section at this time.

Projection of response activities have indicated that the initial work to stabilize the Site in preparation for disposal will not be completed before May 25. OSC Huyser has requested a backup OSC, who will arrive prior to, or on the morning of May 25, to overlap and transfer OSC duties.  

2.5.1 Safety Officer

Daily temperatures exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity. To compensate , arrival time to the Site has been shifted from 0700 to 0630, but excessive heat issues may become a problematic and require longer periods of rest.

At midday, START assessed mercury vapor concentrations in the west building to determine if Level C PPE was still necessary. Mercury concentrations within the doorway exceeded 1,500 ng/m3 and concentrations within the breathing zone exceeded 26,000-50,000 ng/m3 in several areas, but fell well within 1,000-8,000 ng/m3 in the non-mercury-contaminated side of the building. Level C PPE continued to be worn in the mercury-contaminated space of the west building throughout the day. A 36-inch fan was brought in to enhance ventilation and follow-up assessments of air concentration will continue through the following day.

2.5.2 Liaison Officer

No additional information to report in this section at this time.

2.5.3 Information Officer

No information to report in this section at this time.

3.1 Unified Command

 No information to report in this section at this time.

3.2 Cooperating Agencies

EPA (1)

ERRS (10)

START (2)

MDEQ (as available)

6.1 Internet location of additional information/report

 No information to report in this section at this time.

6.2 Reporting Schedule

 No information to report in this section at this time.