| Articles and Books |
| Case Studies |
| EPA Dialogs & Discussions |
| News |
| Press Releases |
| Standard Forms |
| White Papers |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
 |
| Brownfields Weekly |
|
February 28, 2002 THIS WEEK:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPA & Army Delete Site from Superfund, Create Wildlife Refuge BOSTON, Massachusetts - The EPA has taken the Fort Devens Sudbury Training Annex off the Superfund list and frees the property for reuse. The agency determined that the former Army installation located in the Massachusetts towns of Hudson, Maynard, Stow, and Sudbury no longer poses a significant threat to public health or the environment. The Sudbury Annex was added to EPA's National Priorities List in 1990. Environmental studies determined that groundwater under the landfill was contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, and metals and other sampling revealed areas of contaminated soil. "Taking a site off the Superfund is a sign of real accomplishment," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England office. "The largest portion of the site, some 2200 acres, have been turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to manage as the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge - a real gem in the middle of the suburbs." Since cleanup activities began in 1985, the Army, with EPA oversight, removed more than 15,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, removed over 300 tanks and drums, capped the 2-acre Old Gravel Pit landfill and has continued to monitor contaminated groundwater. The 2750-acre site was acquired by eminent domain in 1942 by the U.S. Government for use as an Army ammunition storage point during World War II. Since that time it has been used for ordnance research and development, field testing of military materials, and troop training. The site consists of a landfill, a former fire training and flame retardant clothing test area, underground storage tanks, a rail yard maintenance area, a pesticide storage area, an ammunition demolition area, and miscellaneous disposal areas. Approximately 2205 acres of the now-clean site have been transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Under negotiation is the transfer of another 4.1 acres to the United States Air Force and 71.4 acres to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
$2.22 Million Funds Phytoremediation Studies WASHINGTON, D.C. (ENS) - Seven universities will receive grants totaling almost $2.22 million to study the plant based remediation of soils contaminated by heavy metals or organic chemicals. The joint initiative of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. EPA seeks to foster innovative scientific solutions to the worldwide problem of contaminated soil. Plant based clean up, or phytoremediation, uses plants to degrade, remove or stabilize toxic compounds from contaminated soil and water. Soil contaminated with heavy metals or organic chemicals affects human health, ecosystem functions and agriculture. Experts estimate the cost of soil cleanup in the United States in the billions of dollars. Researchers believe that phytoremediation could provide a cost effective and much less disruptive cleanup process when compared to traditional cleanup techniques, such as transporting massive amounts of contaminated soil to hazardous waste landfills. The NSF is funding three multidisciplinary research projects that will investigate the genetic components of phytoremediation of heavy metals in soils. One project will determine the suite of genes responsible for heavy metal hyper accumulation in one plant species, Thlaspi caerulescens. A second project will search the genomes of brassicaceous plants for genes involved in metal hyper accumulation. A third will study the mechanisms of arsenic uptake, translocation, distribution and detoxification by the Brake fern, a common fern in the southeastern U.S. and California. The EPA is funding three projects to aid understanding of three scientific problems: the microbial ecology of chemical degrading bacteria that live in the root systems of monoterpene producing plants; the role of chemicals produced by roots that aid in making the organic chemicals available for uptake and metabolism by plants; and the role of plant transported oxygen for degradation of organic contaminants in waterlogged, low oxygen salt marsh sediments or soils.
Plan to Attend "Contaminated Property Transactions: Sponsored by RTM Communications, attend "Contaminated Property Transactions: Converting Ruins to Rubies" for high-level presentations, speakers, and discussions on Getting the Deals Done. Attendees will hear case studies of successful financings and redevelopments of environmentally impaired real estate assets, EPA perspectives on contaminated property transactions, detail information on the Superfund and RCRA reforms affecting the redevelopment of Federal and private sites and much more. For more information on this
conference, a list of speakers, and to register, click below: Innovative "Windmill" Cleanup of St. Croix, VI Site Begins KINGSHILL, St. Croix, Virgin Islands - Cleanup of an underground plume of oil at the St. Croix Alumina facility in Kingshill, St. Croix is underway, using an innovative wind-generated solution. Under a consent agreement with EPA signed in May 2001, the past and present entities that owned or operated the St. Croix Alumina and HOVENSA facilities were required to share responsibility for cleaning up to over two million gallons of petroleum in the groundwater under the aluminum facility. The cleanup is being done using an innovative technology involving wind to power the recovery system. Six "recovery" wells, which pump both oil and water from the ground, are drilled into the ground water in the contaminated area and are powered by turbines driven by tall windmills. The recovered oil/water mixture is sent to the adjacent HOVENSA refinery where the oil is separated from the water and recycled into HOVENSA’s petroleum refining process. Six additional "observation" wells, which do not pump oil or water, are located near the recovery wells and monitor the effectiveness of the removal operation. In addition, nine other observation wells, located beyond the plume of underground contamination, will be periodically monitored to ensure that petroleum is not moving toward the Caribbean Sea, which forms the southern border of the St. Croix Alumina facility. The petroleum was released from approximately 1978 to 1991 from storage tanks and underground piping at both St. Croix Alumina and the former HOVIC facility, which borders the aluminum company to the east. The oil seeped into the soil at both facilities and eventually reached the ground water. Much of the oil is now floating on top of the ground water, although some of it has dissolved into the water itself. The ground water in this area flows in the general direction of the Caribbean Sea. The cleanup of a large oil plume underlying HOVENSA has been ongoing since 1987 under a permit from EPA, and is separate from the order to clean up the plume under the St. Croix Alumina facility. To date, over 35 million gallons of oil has been recovered as part of the HOVENSA cleanup. The complete cleanup will take an estimated five years.
Limited Land, Poor Economy Prompts Mountain City to Solve Brownfields The largest city in Montana's Rocky Mountains, Missoula, population 51,200, is entirely surrounded by mountainous terrain. The decline of the city's timber industry and its lack of available flat land has helped Missoula turn its attention to the brownfields the economic bust left behind. Like many other communities throughout the northwest, Missoula's economy historically relied on the timber and mining industries. During the 1950s and 1960s, Missoula enjoyed great economic success. Within the last 20 years, however, the decline of the timber industry resulted in massive job dislocation and abandonment of the city's timber processing facilities. Missoula's economy remains weak by national standards, and the city's poverty and unemployment rates are consistently higher than the national average. Another problem is the city's lack of available flat land, which seriously impedes urban growth. But despite the city's economic problems, Missoula's population increased nearly 20 percent from 1990 to 1996, while demands for land continue to increase. One of the few alternatives the city could use to help resurrect its economy were its brownfields. Working with the EPA's Pilot Program, Missoula is currently developing and implementing strategies that will lead to the cleanup and redevelopment of the Missoula Sawmill, a large, abandoned mill site, and a neighborhood area adjacent to another abandoned mill. Both sites together total more than 100 acres. The threat of real and perceived contamination at these sites has affected adjacent neighborhoods, resulting in rapid residential turnover rates and low levels of property investment. To bolster redevelopment, Missoula will build on existing growth management strategies, economic development plans, and other community-wide policies and initiatives. Ongoing outreach initiatives and community participation are improving the effectiveness of the Stakeholder Working Group, which is working to develop public and private brownfields cleanup partnerships in the Pilot areas. The neighborhoods and the city planning department are working together to develop a master plan that will include mixed-use redevelopment of commercial and park areas for the Missoula Sawmill site. So far, the Pilot has completed the major portions of Phase I and Phase II site assessment activities for the residential area adjoining the White Pine Sash site, and completed a final Phase II report. For the Missoula Sawmill site, major portions of Phase I and Phase II site assessment activities have been completed. By focusing on its brownfields, Missoula hopes to return these idle properties to productive use in a city where space is at a premium, as well as promote much-needed economic recovery.
|