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Miami Drum Services
National Information
Photos/Multimedia
Air stripping towers at Miami Drum Services site
- Additional Site Photos
- Site Video
Additional Resources
- Site Cleanup Terms - can be found in EPA's glossary
- EPA Guides to Cleanup Technologies
- Superfund Community Involvement (PDF) (17 pp, 130K, About PDF)
Site Summary Profile
EPA ID: FLD076027820Location: Hialeah, Dade County, FL
Lat/Long: 25.837210, -080.313060
Congressional District: 21
NPL Status: Proposed: 12/30/82; Final: 09/08/83
Affected Media: Ground water
Cleanup Status: Construction complete - physical cleanup activities have been completed
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: Train maintenance yard for the Miami Transit Authority's light rail system
Site Manager: James Hou (hou.james@epa.gov)
Site Background
The Miami Drum Services site is located at 6601 NW 72nd Avenue, in Northwest Miami-Dade County about two miles north of the Miami International Airport. The site covers 1.2 acres and is now wholly contained within an 82-acre parcel owned by Miami-Dade County. The site is situated in a commercial and industrial area of Hialeah, but is surrounded by residentially populated areas, including the communities of Miami Springs, Medley, Hialeah Gardens, Pinewood Park, and Miami. Between 1966 and 1981, Miami Drum Services cleaned and recycled drums at the site. In 1981, the facility was forced to cease operations.
Since 1982, the site has been continuously used as a train maintenance yard for the Miami Transit Authority’s light rail system. Currently, the site is partially asphalt-paved, partially covered with gravel roads, and partially uncovered land that is bisected by train tracks.
Threats and Contaminants
Due to poor waste handling practices by the drum recycling facility, the soil became contaminated with metals, pesticides, and organic solvents and the ground water, including the Biscayne Aquifer, became contaminated with volatile organic compounds.
Ground water contamination at the site has commingled with contamination related from two nearby Superfund sites: Varsol Spill and Northwest 58th Street Landfill. Referred to collectively as the Biscayne Aquifer sites, these three sites have contributed to widespread ground water contamination in the Biscayne Aquifer – a "sole source aquifer" that is the only source of drinking water for several counties, including Dade County. The contamination was significant enough to cause the shutdown of several wellfields including the wellfields at the Preston and Hialeah water treatment plants.
Site Cleanup Plan
Soil cleanup was initiated as part of a removal action in December 1981. In 1982, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD), clarifying that the 1981 removal action served as the primary cleanup approach for contaminated soils at the site. See “Cleanup Progress” below for more details.
EPA issued a second ROD in 1985 to address ground water contamination from all three nearby Superfund sites and to protect the regional water supply. The cleanup approach included using the Hialeah and Preston municipal wellfields to pump and treat the contaminated ground water using air strippers and granular activated carbon. The ROD also called for use of institutional controls (i.e., existing local ground water well ordinances) and recommended a preventive action program to be implemented by Dade County called the Biscayne Aquifer Protection Plan.
Cleanup Progress
Dade County completed the removal of the contaminated soil in January 1982. A total of 15,000 tons of contaminated soil and debris was excavated from the site and disposed of at an off-site hazardous waste facility.
In 1992, air stripping towers at the Preston and Hialeah water treatment plants became operational. Since September 1992 over 600,000 gallons of contaminated ground water have been treated. As a result, the previously impacted Preston and Hialeah wellfields have been placed back into service. The ground water treatment system remains operational and meets the daily drinking water demands of almost one million people in northern Dade County.
The air stripping towers were built by Dade County with oversight provided by the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA. Dade County is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the air stripping towers at the Preston and Hialeah water treatment plants. EPA continues to provide oversight.
The 2008 Five-Year Review (FYR) found the site to be protective of human health and the environment.
Enforcement Activities
In 1981, Dade County forced the drum recycling facility to cease operation due to violations of its operating permits, which were enforced through a local court order.
In 1987, a Consent Decree was finalized.
In 1988 EPA signed a Cooperative Agreement for the ground water cleanup approach with the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department who then constructed a treatment system to handle the combined capacity of the Preston and Hialeah water treatment plants.
Community Involvement
EPA has conducted a range of community involvement activities at the Miami Drum Services site to solicit community input and to ensure that the public remains informed about site activities throughout the site cleanup process. Outreach activities have included public notices and information meetings on cleanup progress and activities.
Future Work
Annual ground water monitoring has been ongoing since 1988.
The next FYR for the Miami Drum Services Site will be required by 2013.
Site Administrative Documents
Site Repository
For more information or to view any site-related documents, please visit the site information repository at the following location. As new documents are generated, they will be placed in the information repository for public information.
Miami-Dade County Public Library
101 West Flagler
Miami, Florida, 331287
For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.