by Mitch Rice
This meeting had two distinct parts. The first was Tom Alcamo (EPA) giving a summary of the progress at the sites. This information is summarized by the EPA document Bloomington Sites Cleanup Status, June 1999, distributed at the meeting. It is also on the web at http://www.bloomington.in.us/~mitch/pcbs/pcbs.html. The following is a summary of this information, with extra information revealed at the meeting.
Neal's Landfill
The cleanup consists of excavating soil in areas containing PCBs at greater than 500 parts per million (ppm) and disposing of the contaminated material off site in a commercial, permitted chemical waste landfill. The volume of material to be disposed of off site is anticipated to be between 7,000 and 50,000 cubic yards. Material containing PCB levels at less than 500 ppm will be consolidated and stored in an area of the site less prone to becoming wet. Capacitors containing PCBs discovered during excavation activities will be removed and incinerated off site at a facility designed to handle PCBs.
The first phase of cleanup activities at the Neal's Landfill site started April 19, 1999, by CBS Corp. Excavation of the north slope is 40% complete, and excavation on the southeast side has begun. About 25,000 tires were found during excavation, and will be shredded and put on top of the consolidated material, just under the cap/liner. The final landfill area will be reduced from 18 acres to 10 acres through off-site disposal and consolidation. A clay and a membrane liner will be installed over the landfill to prevent water from penetrating into the contaminated material. The final cap is scheduled to be completed by December 2000. Current data from five air monitoring locations around the Neal's Landfill site and personal air monitors indicate that airborne PCB levels are well below levels of health concern.
Neal's Dump
The cleanup of the Neal's Dump site is complete. The 0.5-acre site is located in southeast Owen County about 4.2 miles south of Spencer, Indiana.
In the fall of 1998, the Neal's Dump site was cleaned up to standards that will allow future residential development. A total of 297 truckloads containing 7,250 tons of material containing PCBs was removed from the site and transported to a landfill capable of handling PCBs. In addition, 2,430 capacitors weighing a total of approximately 250,000 pounds were sent to an incinerator capable of incinerating PCBs. Long-term groundwater monitoring will continue to ensure that the cleanup is effectively protecting groundwater.
Bennett's Quarry
The cleanup of the Bennett's Dump site, which is located about 1 mile northwest of Bloomington, will begin in July 1999 and is scheduled to be completed by December 1999. The total volume of contaminated soil and waste at the site is estimated to be 55,000 cubic yards. Wastes disposed of at the site include demolition debris, fragments from stone quarry operations, and capacitors containing PCBs. Some drums containing solvents were found and the EPA may have to fund their removal. After the cleanup is completed, the site could be redeveloped for industrial activity.
Lemon Lane Landfill
The Lemon Lane Landfill site covers about 10 acres on the western edge of the City of Bloomington Studies indicate that groundwater containing PCBs is being released at the Illinois Central Spring (ICS), which is approximately 0.5 mile from the landfill. A 1,000-gallon-per-minute spring water treatment plant is being constructed near the site. CBS is doing additional testing to find water conduits, using a new tool for detection. Work has begun on the water treatment plant with grading and road work. Two new conduits will be installed under the railbed, one to feed into the treatment plant, and the other to act as a bypass for clean groundwater. The plant will be completed sometime next year, as the 5 million dollar expense must be stretched over 2 fiscal years.
Winston-Thomas
The final phase of PCB cleanup at the Winston Thomas site is underway. The areas requiring cleanup on the site include the tertiary lagoon, abandoned lagoons, the trickling filter, sludge digesters, and the sludge drying beds.
To date, everything on the site property except the tertiary lagoon has been cleaned up to standards that will allow future industrial development of the property. Cleanup of the 17-acre tertiary lagoon is scheduled to be completed by September 1999. Sludge containing PCBs is being removed and disposed of in an off-site landfill that is permitted to handle PCBs. Some portions of the berm contain material that as less than 25 ppm, while the lagoon bottom is expected to test at less than 1 ppm.
Part 2
The second half of the meeting was filled with discussion about the usefulness of the CIC itself. The question was whether it is simply a forum for the EPA to share the information about the sites, or if it also serves to funnel input from the community back to the EPA. In its first years the CIC was narrowly defined as conduit of information to the community, but not from it. It was thought by EPA that citizens could best represent their interests through their government officials, city, county and state, who were signatories to the Consent Decree, which governed the cleanup. Stubbornly, members of the CIC brought up issues that they felt the EPA needed to hear. It was pressure from CIC members that brought the EPA to the conclusion that a water treatment plant was needed at ICS as soon as possible.
Still, officially the meetings are not set up to take input. Many times citizen agenda items are put to the end, and never fully heard. The EPA expressed the desire to hear and consider citizen concerns, if they are limited agenda items rather than open debate. The CIC determined that they should meet again before the next EPA meeting, and develop an agenda of concerns that are time delimited, and can be expected to get adequately covered in the time allowed.