Wisconsin Ruling Lowers Prices for Contaminated Properties

By: Duane Craig

For all those in Wisconsin hoping to sell their contaminated properties to the government at prime prices, a recent ruling by the state’s Supreme Court may foil their plans.

According to an article in State Bar of Wisconsin, in cases of condemnation proceedings, including eminent domain, the government can supply evidence of environmental contamination and even future remediation costs in attempt to reduce the amount it pays the owner for the property. The case cited in the article reported the property owner receiving $2 million instead of the $3.5 million reflected in the owner’s appraisal.

This particular case runs counter to a Minnesota Supreme Court case where contamination and cleanup costs were ruled to be inadmissible. Read the whole story right here.

Responsible Parties in Omega Superfund Site May Be on the Hook for $70 million

By: Duane Craig

The Omega Chemical Corporation Superfund site in Whittier, California, needs $70 million to cleanup the volatile organic compounds in the ground water, according to a recent report at 89.3 KPCC, Southern California Public Radio. The plume of contamination extends 4.5 miles in a southwesterly direction, at least to Los Nietos Road.

Cleanup of the soil and above-ground area began in 1995. More than 100 potentially responsible parties banded together to "remove and treat 3,000 drums of hazardous waste, 60 cubic yards of hardened resin material, hundreds of empty contaminated drums, numerous cylinders and various other smaller containers." The group also emptied two rainwater sumps and four evaporators. It cleaned two cooling towers, removed 67 refrigerant gas cylinders and disposed of 40,000 gallons of contaminated liquids, according to the history of the site kept by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Whittier, Ca needs $70 million to cleanup superfund site

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control had been alerted to problems at the business in the 1980s, and during the 1990s, the department had tried unsuccessfully to get the operators of the facility to remove wastes and clean up the site. The business recycled refrigerants and solvents from 1976 to 1991. Spills and leaks led to soil contamination with tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, trichloroethylene, or TCE, Freons 11 and 113 and other contaminants. One of the operable units managed by the EPA is addressing vapor intrusion in several buildings along the perimeter of the Omega property, while the other two operable units focus on the ground water contamination.

Fish Bones Solve Lead Contamination

Pyromorphite used to mitigate lead contamination.

By: Duane Craig
What do you get when you combine a paste made from fish bones with lead? Pyromorphite. What's significant about that is it could be a much less costly way to mitigate lead contamination in soils.
A 2001 Environmental Protection Agency report noted how phosphate would bind with lead and cause it to become a crystalline substance known as pyromorphite. Calcium phosphate is a chief component of bone and once it reacts with lead the resulting material so far appears to decrease in solubility and bioavailability, meaning it remains stable while binding up the lead. Since pollock bones retain little meat residue after processing, they are especially well suited for this process.
Now, according to this report in Business & Health, the technique is set to be used on residential lots that are contaminated by lead. The area is in Oakland, California in the South Prescott neighborhood. So far it has been used on lead contamination at military bases, mines, universities and commercial labs.
It is widely reported that America has such a serious lead contamination problem that it will never be cleaned up. For many decades motor vehicles spewed out lead because the gasoline was leaded to prevent the valves from fouling. Another prime source of lead in soils is lead-based paint that was used on buildings.

U.S. EPA Settlements Require Investigation of Uranium Contamination On Southwestern Tribal Lands

September 13, 2010 - This week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency entered into two enforcement actions, both of which will contribute towards cleaning up uranium contamination at the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation.

In one settlement, Rio Algom Mining LLC, a subsidiary of Canadian corporation BHP Billiton, has agreed to control releases of radium (a decay product of uranium) from the Quivira Mine Site, near Gallup, N.M. In addition, the company is to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the levels of contamination at the site. The total cost for this work is estimated to be approximately $1 million.

Under the terms of a separate settlement, the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), will begin a comprehensive investigation of the levels of uranium and other contaminants in the waste, soils and groundwater at the Tuba City Dump Site in Arizona. They will also evaluate the feasibility of a range of cleanup actions.

"Uranium mining has left a toxic legacy, and we are working as partners with the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe and other federal agencies to clean up contaminated homes, mines and water supplies," said Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator for EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. "These actions are just one part of a coordinated plan that has already resulted in the replacement of 14 homes, the assessment of more than 200 mines, and funding for water systems that will serve over 3,000 people with clean water."

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Evansville IN. Contamination Cleanup to Start In March

January 26, 2010- The federal government is gearing up for a project to remove contaminated soils from an Evansville neighborhood starting this spring.

The cleanups in the city's Jacobsville neighborhood is expected to begin in March and take four to five years. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will remove lead- and arsenic-contaminated soil in the yards of about 350 homes and replace it with clean soil.

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NY County Avoids Foreclosure of Tainted Properties

January 26, 2010- When you haven't paid property taxes in 20 years, there's a good chance the county will take your property - unless it once housed a gas station, metal foundry or landfill.
The owner of a piece of land that once housed a gas station in Johnsburg can attest to that. He hasn't paid property taxes since 1989. The property has long been unused, but in light of the cleanup the property will likely need, the county has decided not to foreclose, officials said.

When there's a possibility a property has environmental contamination that could require cleanup, prospective owners - including the county - are hesitant to take title because they could be on the hook for the cleanup bill.

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Getting the Lead Out of Evansville, IN.

August 24, 2009- Some of Evansville's oldest and poorest neighborhoods are on the verge of becoming a Superfund site targeted for a widespread cleanup of soils contaminated with lead from the smokestacks of factories long gone. But children there will remain at risk because of the area's aging homes even after the cleanup is complete.

What makes the need for the cleanup so compelling, officials said, is the number of residential properties and the possibility that children will be exposed to the lead through contact with the soil.

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Oregon DEQ Confirms Contamination Cleanup

May 1, 2009- The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality says it is satisfied with efforts to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater at the former Natron Plywood Mill site in Springfield.

Cleanup included removal and disposal of 118 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil, more than 100 metal drums containing various other wastes, about 1,200 gallons of oil and water mix, and 4,100 gallons of unused fuel oil. Sampling results from beneath the soil excavations and from the groundwater beneath the site show that the levels of contaminants in the soil and groundwater now meet state standards, according to a DEQ news release.

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EPA sets cleanup plan for South Minneapolis Residential Soil Contamination Superfund site

November 7, 2008 -

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has set a cleanup plan for the South Minneapolis Residential Soil Contamination Superfund site, which is contaminated with varying levels of arsenic from the former CMC Heartland company that produced and distributed pesticides and herbicides at the epicenter of the 1,480-acre area between 1938 and 1963.

The pollution was discovered in 2004. By the end of this year, the EPA will have cleaned up almost 200 properties.

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California State law burdens unsuspecting residents with $250,000 cost to clean dump that was closed in 1953

February 18, 2008 - Three dozen frustrated homeowners north of Escondido Country Club want the city or local environmental groups to help them pay for cleaning up the remnants of a defunct trash dump that lies within their middle-class subdivision.

State law requires the homeowners to pay for cleaning up the 2-acre site, even though the dump ceased operations in 1953 -- 30 years before their subdivision was built. The law holds only current owners responsible for cleaning up toxic sites to avoid costly investigations to determine who owned them and who contaminated them.

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Toxic cleanup fund empty; Michigan DEQ may seek statewide bond

February 8, 2008 - The state Department of Environmental Quality has run out of money for toxic site cleanups and brownfield redevelopment projects.

Thousands of contaminated sites in the Saginaw Bay area and elsewhere will sit unaddressed until a new funding source is found, said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester.

"That's not good for public health and the environment and municipalities that want to reinvigorate contaminated areas in their community," Chester said.

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EPA to clean up Arizona homes contaminated with arsenic, lead and copper

January 11, 2008 - The Environmental Protection Agency will proceed with the cleanup of 15 homes in the copper mining towns of Hayden and Winkelman after soil tests revealed high levels of arsenic, lead and copper, officials announced during public hearings Wednesday and Thursday.

The soil in the yards of the homes will be removed and replaced with clean dirt, and the interiors of the homes will be vacuumed and scrubbed with special equipment, EPA officials said.

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