The Former Bendix Property Site (the Site) is a former industrial facility that was primarily used for metalworking, including the milling and grinding of steel drill bits and taps. It is partially fenced, inactive and abandoned for approximately 10 years. The Site consists of a single parcel of land totaling 17.3 acres and is developed with two buildings. The first building (Building A) is an approximate 94,000 square-foot (sq ft) single-story slab on grade, concrete block industrial building that is located along the south-central region of the Site. The second building is an approximately 700 sq ft concrete block garage–style building. General public access is unrestricted as evidenced by the presence of burned debris piles, graffiti inside and outside Building A. The Greenfield Fire Department stated that they have had three fires within the building in the past.
The 94,000 sq ft building is currently in a deteriorated state. It has several openings in the roof which allowed the precipitation through, damaging the inoperative heat and water piping system that is wrapped by asbestos containing insulating wrap to fall on the floors and cross-contaminate whatever material exists directly underneath. In addition, approximately 380 discarded metal and/or plastic 55 gallon drums, and other various sizes containers, exist throughout the entire (interior/exterior) grounds of the Site.
Due to the conditions and potential threat of release of the hazardous materials from the Site, on July 20, 2010, the EPA Brownfields Program referred the Site to the Emergency Planning and Response Branch (EPRB) for further investigation.
On November 4, 2010, the EPRB and its Technical Assessment and Response Team, Weston Solutions, Inc., conducted a Preliminary Assessment and Site Investigation (PA/SI). The PA/SI revealed friable asbestos and asbestos containing material, metals (chromium), and volatile organic compounds.
The PA/SI was concluded and based on Site conditions and analytical results, a Time Critical Removal Action was recommended in a closure memorandum dated December 15, 2010. On February 22, 2011, an Action Memorandum to conduct the Removal Action was signed by the Acting Office Director of the Office of Site Remediation and Restoration.
