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Fact Sheet
August 2005
EPA Announces Proposed Plan and Public Meeting
Hayford Bridge Road Groundwater Site, Operable Unit 3, St. Charles, Missouri
INTRODUCTION
EPA Region 7 and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) are releasing a Proposed Plan to address contaminated groundwater at the Hayford Bridge Road Groundwater Site, Operable Unit 3 (OU3) in St. Charles, Mo. The EPA Proposed Plan recommends actions that will prevent exposures to the contaminated aquifer, including the public water supply.
The EPA and MDNR are asking for your comments on the Proposed Plan. Although EPA is recommending an action to address the contamination, a final decision will not be made until EPA reviews comments from the public. A 30-day public comment period will run from August 8, 2005 until September 8, 2005. A public meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the St. Charles City Hall. The community is invited to attend and present comments at the meeting. Written comments will be accepted until September 8, 2005. After all comments are evaluated, EPA and MDNR will make a decision, which will be published in a Record of Decision (ROD). The ROD will also include a summary of EPA’s responses to the comments received during the public comment period.
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PUBLIC MEETING AND COMMENT PERIOD
The EPA and MDNR will hold a public meeting to
give the community the opportunity to make
public comments on the Proposed Plan for OU3.
The meeting will be held August 24, 2005, from
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at St. Charles City Hall, 4th
Floor, Council Chambers, 200 North Second Street
St. Charles, Mo. Written comments must
be postmarked no later than September 8, 2005
and should be sent to:
Dianna Whitaker
Office of External Programs
U.S. EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, Kan. 66101
whitaker.dianna@epa.gov
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SITE BACKGROUND
Between 1962 and 1973, Findett Corporation operated a chemical recycling and formulation facility at the site. Findett reclaimed used hydraulic fluids, heat transfer fluids and solvents. Some of the reprocessed hydraulic and heat transfer fluids contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Other materials that Findett handled contained volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Findett used an unlined “quench pond” to cool residues from the oil and fluid recycling operations. As a result, VOCs and PCBs contaminated surface soils, subsurface soils and groundwater on the Findett and adjacent property owned by Cadmus Corporation (Cadmus).
As a Superfund project, the site was divided into three operable units (OUs): 1) OU1 addresses the soil and groundwater contamination on the Findett property; 2) OU2 addresses the soil contamination on the Cadmus property; and 3) OU3 addresses the contaminated groundwater that migrated off OU1 and OU2.
In 1990, EPA and Findett entered into an agreement to implement a remedy for OU1. PCB-contaminated surface soils at OU1 were excavated and disposed offsite; a groundwater system was installed and continues to treat the groundwater at OU1.
In January 2001, EPA and several former Findett customers entered into an agreement to implement a soils clean up for OU2. The work was completed later that year.
In September 2001, former Findett customers agreed to conduct a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) to investigate the nature and extent of off-site groundwater contamination (OU3). The Proposed Plan presents the findings from the RI/FS, including the Remedial Action Objective and several Remedial Alternatives. The Remedial Action Objective for OU3 is to protect human health by eliminating exposure to groundwater contaminated above regulatory standards or risk-based standards for site contaminates. The Remedial Alternatives are described below.
REMEDIAL ALTERNATIVES
Alternative 1 - No Action
Alternative 2 - Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA), Institutional Controls (ICs) and Contingency Plan
Alternative 3 – MNA, ICs, Aeration Modification and Contingency Plan
Alternative 4 – MNA, ICs, Aeration Modification, Barrier Treatment and Contingency Plan
MNA is the periodic collection of water samples from monitoring wells located throughout OU3. These samples are analyzed to detect any migration of the plume. This allows EPA to ensure the effectiveness of the remedy.
A Contingency Plan is required for each alternative except for “no action”. The contingency plan would require additional action(s) if monitoring indicates the plume is changing.
ICs consist of property deed restrictions to ensure that contaminated groundwater is not used for drinking purposes.
Aeration Modification is an effective treatment process for removing VOCs from water. The aeration system at the city’s water treatment plant would be upgraded to improve removal of VOCs.
A Barrier Treatment could consist of one of three technologies – air sparging, biostimulation or in-well pump and treatment.
THE PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE
The Preferred Alternative for cleaning up OU3 is Alternative 3 which addresses the groundwater contamination using monitored natural attenuation, institutional controls, aeration upgrade of the city’s water treatment plant, and a contingency plan for additional action(s), if necessary.
Alternative 3 was selected over the other alternatives because it provided an additional level of long-term protectiveness with the aeration upgrade, without the potential implementation difficulties and high costs of implementing barrier technologies. Alternative 3 will effectively clean up the plume in the same timeframe as the other alternatives. The Preferred Alternative can change in response to public comment or new information.
IS THE CITY WATER SAFE?
The primary focus of EPA at this site is to protect the nearby St. Charles’ drinking water supply and potential future potable uses of contaminated groundwater on private properties. Approximately 40 percent of St. Charles’ drinking water is obtained from the Elm Point Wellfield. The contaminated plume does not extend into the wellfield. The purpose of the Proposed Plan and Preferred Alternative is to ensure that St. Charles continues to have safe drinking water.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Proposed Plan and other site-related documents provide details of the nature and extent of contamination and the work that has been completed at the site. These documents are part of the Administrative Record, available during regular business hours at the following locations:
St. Charles City-County Library
Kathryn Linnemann Branch
2323 Elm Street
St. Charles, Mo.
EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, Kan.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact:
Dianna Whitaker
Community Involvement Coordinator
EPA Region 7
901 North 5th Street
Kansas City, Kansas 66101
913-551-7003, Toll-free 1-800-223-0425
E-mail: whitaker.dianna@epa.gov
