Old Chicago factory leaves persistent lead legacy

By: Nathan Lamb


An old industrial site in Chicago is being targeted for cleanup by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after soil testing found dangerously high levels of lead contamination, according to this story from the USA Today.

Now a vacant lot in the city’s Pilsen neighborhood, the site was home to a lead factory in the 1940s.

The EPA vowed to pursue cleanup after recent tests revealed contamination across much of the property. In some cases, topsoil contained lead concentrations 57 times higher than EPA health advisory levels.

The old factory site is in a residential area and abuts a pedestrian path and city sidewalk. A community garden and elementary school are also nearby.

The dangers of lead exposure were raised in a 2006 report, where environmental officials cited initial test results and noted the site was a popular shortcut for pedestrians.

According to the EPA website, lead exposure can cause a variety of health problems,primarily in children and the elderly. Common impacts include slow growth and development in children, pregnancy complications and increased blood pressure in adults.

The EPA plans to test neighboring parcels, but did not offer specifics on the scope of that investigation.

It is unknown when the site cleanup will begin. The EPA had to secure a court order to test at the old factory site, and it’s unclear if another court order will be required to begin cleanup.

Dry-cleaning byproducts a costly problem in Medford

By: Nathan Lamb


Contaminants from a long-gone dry-cleaning business are the prime suspect behind a costly problem in Medford, Mass., according to a local news story.

At issue are high levels of tetrachloroethylene at a city parking lot and three nearby businesses. Also known as perchloroethylene (or perc), the chemical is often used in dry cleaning, but it also produces vapors that can cause a variety of short- and long-term health problems.

The City of Medford is seeking federal grants to help pay for a $1.8 million remediation project to remove tainted soil from the parking lot.

Medford took ownership of the property via eminent domain in the early ‘60s. Before that, the parcel was home to three different dry cleaning operations, and city studies indicate that was the source of contamination. As owner, the city is responsible for cleanup.

Tetrachloroethylene has been linked to several different types of cancer, along with aversely impacting the body’s neurological system, kidney, and liver, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website.

Perc often migrates in liquid form through soil, and three neighboring businesses have spent roughly $300,000 on state mandated remediation measures over the past five years. Two of the businesses' owners recently went on record saying the city should cover those costs, and that issue has yet to be resolved.

The dry-cleaning business that most recently operated at the site declared bankruptcy in 2008.

The city is commissioning a $90,000 engineering study of the site, which must be delivered to the Department Of Environmental Protection by March.

Florida Communities Decide to Root Out Uncertainty

By: Duane Craig

Government officials and property owners in Alachua County, Florida have decided the uncertainty of contamination at brownfield sites isn’t worth the lost business opportunities. So, four communities, Alachua, Hawthorne, Newberry and Waldo, have banded together seeking a federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate rumors of contamination.

By combining their efforts and going for one grant, the county and four communities can leverage $1 million from the EPA’s coffers and avoid costs and time associated with each one doing its own grant application. The county also already has experience with brownfield grants. The entities have agreed there will be at least one brownfield investigated from each area, according to this report.

Of prime concern, and the most likely types of places to be investigated, are former dry-cleaning establishments and former gas stations. City managers and county environmental officials say the uncertainty about contamination at the sites makes investors unlikely to redevelop them.
Counties and municipalities in Florida are very familiar with the process of gathering federal money to deal with contamination issues. Since 2000, governments in Florida have applied for and received 44 assessment grants.

Iowa Community Considers Trading Wells for Community Water

By: Duane Craig


Hills, Iowa residents who are in the path of an expanding underground plume of perchlorate are bracing for the day when they might be told their wells are contaminated with the chemical, according to this article.

Up to now, about 30 homes have been fitted with reverse osmosis water treatment systems to purify their well water, but the plume is on the move and is expected to affect even more homes, according to an official with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

But any new water well contamination will be met with two choices - drill a new well and hope it doesn’t come up contaminated, or vote for the installation of a municipal water system. People in the community have their own wells and only pay the cost of pumping the water. But, if a municipal system is set up, then the estimated monthly bill for 4,000 gallons is expected to be about $50, and everyone will be required to hook up.

The community, though, already has another water problem - nitrates. Voters decided against a municipal water system proposed in 2007 to address the issue. But now, there is $4.63 million available from the Environmental Protection Agency to address the nitrate problem, and $1.9 million of that is a forgivable loan with a low interest rate.

There are residents who were against the water system in 2007, that no longer are, mainly because of the newly available money and the potential for attracting new businesses because of having municipal water.

Illinois Residents Left Wondering About Vinyl Chloride Contamination

By: Duane Craig

Residents of Sauk Village, Ill. want some answers about vinyl chloride that has been contaminating their water since 2009, but there have been few answers coming their way, according to this article, and this one.

During June and July 2012, crowded, anger-infused public meetings resulted in one of them being shut down as people accused the local government and the state of not providing enough information on the dangers of the contamination. Distressed residents also wondered why so little had been done since the pollution was discovered three years ago.

By early August 2012, air strippers were operating at the village’s wells #1 and #2, and seven test wells were planned for installation throughout August to sample water and determine not only contamination levels but also the direction contamination is moving through the ground, according to this Illinois document.

Environmental officials don’t know the source of the contamination and have said that it may never be known. But the lack of that information hasn’t been as contentious as the lack of reliable and consistent information on when it was safe to use the water and when it was not safe. At one time residents were told that officials could not confirm whether the water was safe. Part of that issue stems from Environmental Protection Agency guidelines on vinyl chloride in water. The agency sets a limit of 2 parts per billion as the action level -- the amount of the contamination that requires action to reduce its presence. The EPA however also states that no amount of vinyl chloride is safe in drinking water. Meanwhile, Illinois has an action level of 1 ppb as a safety level to ensure contamination is caught in time to take action before it reaches the federal limit.

Other concerns arose over the nature of vinyl chloride. As a volatile organic compound it easily transfers to air, posing vapor intrusion risks in buildings where it can be inhaled by occupants. That same characteristic is what makes it easier to deal with by stripping it out into air in specially-designed water cleaning systems. Still, residents have been left wondering about their exposure to the water during the time it was not being treated. Those concerns extended to uses other than for drinking, such as using it for bathing, washing dishes and boiling foods. Businesses, especially restaurants, had received conflicting guidance that left them wondering if their premises were safe, or whether they should be serving food. Even after treatment, questions remain about safety if any of the contaminant still remains, even amounts below the state’s action level.

Four Companies Take Next Steps in California Superfund Cleanup

by: Duane Craig

The Environmental Protection Agency reached an agreement with four companies to get the Montrose and Del Amo Superfund sites cleaned up in Torrance, Calif., according to an EPA press release.

This agreement continues the process of closing the contamination books on these notorious sites polluted with monochlorobenzene, a raw material used in making DDT, as well as benzene, naphthalene and ethyl benzene. The two sites are adjacent to one another. Owners of the Montrose site made DDT from 1947 until 1982 while the Del Amo site was a rubber manufacturing facility.

The four companies will build and operate a groundwater treatment system that will pull and treat 700 gallons of water each minute. That equals a million gallons a day. Shell started cleaning up the Del Amo site in 1999 when it put impermeable caps on waste pits and set up a soil vapor extraction system. Over the years, DDT-contaminated soils have been removed from local neighborhoods as well. The cost of the new actions is expected to be a little more than $14 million, with construction of the water treatment facility taking 18 months.

Michigan Canals Still Hide Their PCB Sources

Two canals in Michigan are dangerously contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, according to this advisory. The seriousness of the contamination was underscored by the Michigan Department of Health when it wrote in the advisory that the PCB levels were 2,000 times higher than those typically seen in fish taken from Lake St. Clair.

The advisories cover the bottom feeders -- carp and catfish. That’s because they feed closest to the contaminated sediments and have high concentrations of body fat to store the PCBs. The canals affected are the Lange and Revere off Lake St. Clair.

Residents who live along the canals are concerned about how long it’s taking to find the source of the contamination. The Environmental Protection Agency has been sampling and cleaning up problem areas for years but hasn’t been able to determine just where the contamination originated. PCBs have been linked to cancer and are a persistent pollutant, meaning they accumulate in the environment and in the tissues of living things.

By: Duane Craig

Whoops, TCE and PCE on the Move Again at Bennington Superfund Site

By: Duane Craig

A very deep trench is proposed to subvert the movement of contamination from a former landfill in Bennington, Vermont, according to this article in the VTDigger.org. The landfill is also a formerly active Superfund site with remediation completed in 1999, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Groundwater contamination found in Barney Brook

Trichloroethylene, or TCE, and tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, have escaped from the landfill which was previously capped and adorned with a soil vapor extraction system. Apparently the groundwater flow changed and some contamination has been found in a tributary to Barney Brook. For six years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the landfill was a dumping place for industrial wastes from local companies. Those wastes included polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, organic solvents and lead. These wastes were dumped into a lagoon that was not lined to prevent absorption into the soil.

In 1976, a system was installed to lower the groundwater beneath the landfill by carrying it away to an unlined, pond area. Ten years later PCBs, lead, arsenic, benzene and ethylbenzene were flowing into the pond, according to this EPA report.

The new trench will be 25 feet deep and 200 feet long. Because it goes down to impervious soil it is expected to catch the contaminants. The bottom of the trench will be filled with sand and iron shavings to break down the contaminants and stop their movement.