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. Site assessment activities conducted at the site in May and June 2014 revealed electric equipment and 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 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. 

2.1.1 Current Activities

 - A total of approximately 2,623 tons (119 intermodal containers) of PCB contaminated soil/debris was transported off site from the Walp Trucking property during the reporting period. PCB contaminated soil is being transported by truck and rail to Heritage Environmental Services in Roachdale, Indiana for disposal as PCB Remediation Waste.  To date, a total of approximately 12,694 tons of soil has been transported off site from the Walp Trucking property and 3,255 tons has been transported off site for disposal from the Schiavo property.   

- A total of 24 drums containing PCB electrical equipment were shipped off site for disposal at Veolia Environmental Services in Port Arthur, Texas.

- ERRS excavated soil in the central and northern portions of the Walp Trucking parking lot in areas C-045 through C-049. All areas were excavated to a depth of approximately 24 - 48 inches. The required depth of excavations was based off subsurface samples collected prior to excavations, field screening and/or confirmation samples.  A cleanup level of 1 mg/kg was used for surface soil and 25 mg/kg was used for soils remaining at depths greater than 24 inches.  Prior to backfilling, orange safety fence was placed at the bottom of excavations in areas that contained greater than 1 mg/kg and less that 25 mg/kg.    

-All excavated areas were filled with clean fill and 2A modified stone.  A compactor was used to ensure proper compaction. A total of 87 loads of backfill, 64 loads of 2A modified stone, and one load of #57 stone was delivered to the site for use on the Walp trucking property. 

 - During the reporting period, a total of 25 large capacitors were uncovered and placed in 55-gallons drums with absorbent material.  Drums will be stored on site temporarily in a secure area until off site disposal is arranged. To date, a total of approximately 544 large capacitors have been recovered at the site.  Daily inspections of the drum storage area were conducted.

- Water from excavations was pumped to two temporary storage tanks.  ERRS treated water using a filtration system that consists of a bag filter, clay drum filter, and two activated carbon drums. 

- START collected 5 subsurface samples from the parking lot area to better delineate extent of contamination.  All samples contained less than 1 mg/kg PCBs. 

- START performed daily air monitoring for particulates.  No site action levels were exceeded.