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| Brownfields Weekly |
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November 1, 2001 THIS WEEK:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit BrownfieldSites.com, our new international partner and Europe's first point of reference for brownfields redevelopment: http://www.BrownfieldSites.com If you have a complete or in-progress brownfields site "success story," we'd like to hear about it. Send a brief synopsis of your project to: Editors@Brownfields.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Superfund
Cleanup Continues at Nuclear Disposal Site in Kentucky HILLSBORO, Kentucky - The EPA announced that cleanup continues at the Maxey Flats Disposal site in Fleming County, Kentucky. The cleanup addresses conditions resulting from storage and disposal of low level radioactive waste from 1963 until 1978. The Maxey Flats Nuclear Disposal Site is located in eastern Kentucky near Hillsboro in Fleming County. The site is located on a spur of Maxey Flats, a ridge 300 feet above the surrounding stream valleys. The area surrounding the Site is rural and agricultural. More than 300 people live within a five mile radius of the Restricted Area; the closest residence is within 1/4 mile. Initial work at the site included the removal of contaminated leachate from disposal trenches and the construction of reinforced concrete bunke, which was completed in the fall of 2000. Currently underway at the site is the construction of a 60-acre interim cap and associated water and erosion controls. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2002. Data collected by the Commonwealth of Kentucky shows that site controls continue to protect human health and the environment in the area. Following completion of the interim cap, the Commonwealth of Kentucky will implement an extended maintenance period to allow natural stabilization of the disposal trenches before constructing the final cap. Site maintenance and institutional controls will be the responsibility of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. In the fall of 2002, EPA will hold an "Open House" to give the community an opportunity to see construction progress and obtain information concerning future activities. For more information and a copy of EPA's August 2001 Fact Sheet on the Maxey Flats site, please contact Derek Matory, Remedial Project Manager, or Diane Barrett, Community Involvement Coordinator at (800) 435-9233. Ohio House Approves Brownfield Redevelopment
Incentives COLUMBUS, Ohio - Last month, the Ohio House of Representatives approved an economic stimulus bill, H.B. 6, intended to strengthen the state's job climate and lure technology businesses to the state. Among the measures contained in H.B. 6 is a provision that would provide tax credits to businesses that invest in the redevelopment of brownfields. The credits for brownfield remediation would be nonrefundable against the corporate franchise and personal income taxes. The credit amount would equal ten percent of the eligible costs incurred by a county, township, municipal corporation, port authority, or conservancy district for brownfield remediation, multiplied by the allocation percentage shown in the brownfield tax credit eligibility certificate For the complete bill text, visit: Attend the Empire Energy & Environmental
Exposition The upcoming Empire Energy & Environmental Exposition (E4) will showcase businesses that manufacture, sell, and install, and also consult on, alternative energy generation, energy efficiency and conservation, environmental remediation, alternative fuel, green building products, and pollution prevention and recycling equipment. The E4 will be held at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in downtown Albany. This is a 2-day Business-to-Business and Business-to-Policymaker exposition, focusing on available, demonstrable and purchasable energy and environmental equipment, products and services. E4 will leverage the business community's awareness of energy and environmental challenges to help them act in their own interests to improve their operating economics and New York's economic and environmental climate in the process. For more information on the E4 and to register, please visit: Government and Corporations Save
Groundwater in the Arizona Desert Officials from the EPA and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality toured the second groundwater treatment plant recently completed at the Motorola 52nd Street Superfund Site in Phoenix, Arizona. Representing a continuing partnership between Motorola Inc., Honeywell International Inc., ADEQ and the EPA, the new plant will remove chlorinated solvents, mainly trichloroethylene or TCE, first discovered in 1982, from groundwater and put the water to beneficial use for agricultural irrigation. The new treatment plant was designed to complement the ongoing corrective action east of the 48th Street treatment plant, which has been in operation since 1992. The new second plant will specifically address containment and treatment of contaminated groundwater east of 20th Street. The site was listed on EPA's Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989 after ADEQ investigations found soil and groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds. The contaminated groundwater is not used as a source of drinking water. "Since ADEQ first identified soil and groundwater contamination at these old industrial facilities, we have worked with the companies, the community and EPA to design an effective remedy," ADEQ Director Jacqueline E. Schafer said. "The construction of this second operational unit targets additional treatment where it is needed most and represents a significant step toward a final remedy at the site." "In arid Phoenix, groundwater is a precious resource," said Keith Takata, the EPA's Superfund Director for the Pacific Southwest region. "This project shows how well Superfund can work to restore an impaired resource and how effectively government agencies and businesses can work together to solve environmental problems." Motorola and Honeywell constructed the second groundwater treatment plant under an order issued by the EPA. Construction began in March 2000 and was completed in September 2001. The two companies are paying for construction, operation, and maintenance of these facilities. The treatment facility uses granulated activated carbon and ultraviolet oxidation to treat contaminated groundwater; this process does not create any air emissions. A line of three extraction wells will extract groundwater at a rate of approximately 4,000 gallons per minute. After treatment, the extracted groundwater is then transported through underground pipes and discharged into the Salt River Project Grand Canal for irrigation uses. Australia Stuck with U.S. Polar
Ghost Town HOBART, Australia (ENS) - The United States is unlikely to help clean up long-abandoned Wilkes Station, which it built in 1957, and now stands as an environmental blot on the Antarctic landscape. Sited in a hollow on the shores of Vincennes Bay in eastern Antarctica, Wilkes has been entombed in ice for more than 30 years. But the U.S. government is said to believe any obligations to remove it are now Australia's. The difference of opinion between the two countries emerged as Australia announced a costly new program to dig frozen rubbish out of Thala Valley near Casey Station, across the bay from Wilkes, and bring it back to Australia for sorting and disposal. According to the Australian Antarctic Division, the Thala Valley project is seen as a trial of techniques that could be used at the much larger Wilkes. But although plans to clean up Wilkes were first announced in 1998, that attempt is predicted to be still years away and involve a much longer term program. The clean-up by Australia complies with the Antarctic Treaty's 1991 Protocol on Environment Protection. Its demand that abandoned facilities be removed from the global nature reserve is placing new pressure on nations to act. The project director for the Thala Valley operation, Mike Williamson of Sydney company Collex-Onyx, plans to bring at least 3,000 tonnes of waste back to Australia. But he estimated that about 300,000 tonnes of waste had accumulated around the rest of Antarctica. Abandoned buildings, cast-off machinery and equipment, and garbage, has been discarded by the dozens of nations who have stations on the ice. Among them, Russian officials were recently reported by Tass to have cited the cost of removing the network of former Soviet bases as a reason for continuing its operations. Wilkes, built in just 17 days as part of the feverish activities of the 1957 International Geophysical Year, proved to be located in the wrong place and faced continual problems with snow and ice accumulation over its buildings. After just a year's solo operations, the U.S. government made the first proposal to give it to Australia, and for several years it was operated jointly by the two nations with about 25 expeditioners. Then all of its equipment and buildings, covering an area of 1.2 km by 400 metres, were handed over to Australia on an indefinite long-term loan, according to "The Silence Calling," the official 50 year history of Australia's Antarctic expeditions. Australians persevered at the site until 1969 when Casey station opened and Wilkes was closed. The site remains much as it was left, with accommodation, dining and working structures still in place. Australian expeditioners who sometimes visit the site say it is "desolate and spooky", with food and books still on shelves, but frozen in ice. Over the years, sporadic discussions have been held between the United States and Australia about the future of Wilkes. An informed source said these continued, but the United States was "not that keen" on assisting with what would be a costly and lengthy task. |