INTRODUCTION
Sampling Map

As requested by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Contract No. 68-W6-0037, Work Assignment No. 943-RSBD-0539, Tetra Tech EM Inc. (Tetra Tech) is conducting site visits and performing oversight activities at the Neal's Landfill site in Bloomington, Indiana. Viacom, Inc. (Viacom), is the responsible party for the site. As part of Viacom's remedial alternatives screening for the site, a treatability study was planned of surface water emerging from overflow springs at the site during a storm event producing at least 0.5 inch of precipitation and a surface water flow of at least 4,000 gallons per minute (gpm). The study consisted of a suspended solid particle size analysis and a settling test. The goals of the treatability study were to evaluate (1) particle size distribution across the storm event, (2) polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in the dissolved and particulate phases across the storm event, (3) settling of suspended solids and its effect on PCB levels in water samples collected at selected points during the storm event, and (4) the variation in PCB concentrations and suspended solids distribution during the storm event.

This report summarizes activities observed by Tetra Tech at the Neal's Landfill site on October 24 and 25, 2001; issues and developments; and future activities at the site. Appendix A contains a photographic log of field activities, Appendix B contains a copy of Tetra Tech's field notes, and Appendix C contains a site location map. The attachment contains a copy of Viacom's treatability study work plan.

ACTIVITIES AND OBSERVATIONS

Wednesday, October 24, 2001

Tetra Tech received a call from the EPA work assignment manager (WAM) the morning of October 24, 2001, regarding a large storm event in the Bloomington, Indiana, area. EPA requested Tetra Tech to perfomm oversight of Viacom's surface water treatability study at the site beginning that evening. Tetra Tech mobilized immediately from its Chicago office and arrived at the span" treatment facility (STF) at the Neal's Landfill site at 6:45 p.m. Mr. Mike McCann of Viacom; Neill Vaughan of PSARA Technologies, Inc. (PSARA), and Dr. Deborah Backhus and a few graduate students from Indiana University (IU) were present at the site.

The treatability study began at approximately 6: 15 p.m. Two 16-gallon drums had been filled in the overflow culvert area leading to Conard's Branch during the rising water flow portion (rising limb) of the stomm event (water flow of approximately 2,400 gpm). The second drum was the control to be used throughout the test. A small bucket was used to top off the drums with surface water because it was not possible to completely fill the drums because of the high water flow rate. Dr. Backhus collected water samples periodically from the drums at different depth intervals after initial agitation of the water using a stirring rod. All samples collected during the test will be analyzed at the IU laboratory for PCBs and total suspended solids (TSS). In addition, IU students collected separate samples from Conard's Branch for particle size, conductivity, and turbidity analyses to be conducted at the STF.

At 7:15 p.m., Viacom collected one 16-gallon drum during the stomp's peak flow at the site (approximately 7,108 8pm according to Mr. McCann). Dr. Backbus first agitated the bucket and then collected samples at various depth intervals for PCB and TSS analyses. IU students continued perfomming conductivity, turbidity, and particle size analyses at the STF. At 8:20 p.m., an IU student measured the water height at the Conard's Branch weir to detemmine the flow rate (see Photograph No. 1). The IU student collected a water sample from the weir area, IU students performed conductivity and particle size analyses (see Photographs No. 2 and 3), and Dr. Backhus collected another sample from the peak-flow drum (see Photograph No. 4).

At 8:30 p.m., Viacom and an IU student collected the last 16-gallon drum sample from the Conard's Branch culvert area (see Photograph No. 5) during the receding limb of the stomm event (approximately 6,692 8pm according to Mr. McCann). The drum was topped off with surface water from Conard's Branch from a 2-gallon bucket (see Photograph No. 6). Dr. Backhus began sampling water in the receding-limb storm sample drum (see Photograph No. 7). Mr. McCann stated that the autosampler was collecting samples for PCB and TSS analyses and that the samples would be shipped to Heritage Laboratories of Indianapolis, Indiana, for analysis. These sample analytical results will be compared to those of Dr. Backhus and the IU laboratory. Viacom left the site at 8:50 p.m.

By 9:00 p.m., all 16-gallon drums had been filled for the treatability study. The only remaining sampling was to be conducted by Dr. Backhus at specified time intervals over a 24-hour period. The sampling intervals used by Dr. Backhus during the study for all samples are as follows:

• Three samples at 15-minute intervals after the first sample was collected from each drum
• Three samples at 1 -hour intervals after the last 15-minute sample was collected from each drum
• One sample 8 hours after the first sample was collected from each drum
• One sample 16 hours after the first sample was collected from each drum
• One sample 24 hours after the first sample was collected from each drum

The only site activities at the Neal's Landfill STF consisted of IU students conducting conductivity, turbidity, and particle size analyses. These analyses would continue throughout the night at hourly intervals. Dr. Backhus finished collecting the 15-minute interval samples from the receding-limb storm sample drum and continued with the last 1-hour interval samples for all three drums until approximately 12:30 a.m. on October 25, 2001. The 8-hour samples were to be collected on October 25, 2001, until approximately 4:30 a.m.; the 16-hour samples until 12:30 p.m.; and the 24-hour samples until 8:30 p.m. Because the remaining work was repetitive and to be completed in accordance with a schedule, Tetra Tech left the site at 9:25 p.m.

Tetra Tech arrived at the Neal's Landfill STF at 10:45 a.m. after collecting storm flow data from Tetra Tech's subcontractor, Earth Tech, at the Illinois Central Spring treatment plant for the Lemon Lane Landfill site. Neill Vaughan and another PSARA employee were present at the Neal's Landfill site inspecting the Conard's Branch weir. Dr. Backhus of IU was not at the site, and the STF was locked.

Mr. Vaughan stated that the autosamplers in Conard's Branch had been set to collect samples at 4-hour intervals.

Tetra Tech inspected Conard's Branch, the surrounding overflow springs, gages, and weirs at the site and took photographs of the following:

• Water flow in Conard's Branch culvert south of the gravel road (see Photograph No. 8)
• Water flow in Conard's Branch culvert north of the gravel road (see Photograph No. 9)
• Autosamplers at Conard's Branch culvert sampling overflow water (see Photograph No. 10)
• Overflow water in Conard's Branch culvert and South Spring (see Photograph No. 11)
• V-notch weir at Conard's Branch (see Photograph No. 12)
• V-notch weir at Overflow Spring 34 (see Photograph No. 13)
• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gage at Overflow Spring 34 (see Photograph No. 14)
• V-notch weir and USGS gage at North Spring (see Photograph No. 15)

At 11: 15 a.m., Tetra Tech and PSARA drove around the landfill cap perimeter. The landfill cap appeared to be in very good condition except for some erosion on the southeast slope of the landfill. PSARA stated that the situation was in the process of being rectified. At 11:40 a.m., PSARA and Tetra Tech left the Neal's Landfill STF. Tetra Tech then stopped at the bridge over Richland Creek downstream of the landfill to observe the water height in the creek near the historical fish and sediment sampling location no. 2 (see Photograph No. 16). Afterwards, Tetra Tech observed the water height in Richland Creek at historical sampling location no. 3 at Whitehall Road and State Road 43 (see Photograph No. 17). Tetra Tech then went to the Illinois Central Spring treatment plant to pack and ship storm water samples collected by Earth Tech for the Lemon Lane Landfill site.

Tetra Tech arrived back at the Neal's Landfill STF at 5:55 p.m. No one else was present at the site. Tetra Tech inspected two more springs in the area: Overflow Spring 012 and Overflow Spring 0 (see Photographs No. 18 and 19). Dr. Backhus arrived at the site at 6:50 p.m. to collect the 24-hour samples.

At 7:08 p.m., Dr. Backhus collected the 24-hour sample from the drum filled during the rising-limb of the storm (see Photograph No. 20). Tetra Tech photographed the 16-gallon drum set-up in the STF (see Photographs No. 21 and 22). At 7:35 p.m., Dr. Backhus began sampling the drum filled with water during the storm's peak flow. The only samples that remained for collection were to be collected over the next hour from the receding-limb drum and the control drum. Finally, Dr. Backhus informed Tetra Tech that the treatability study results would not be fully interpreted for a few months. The interpretation is to consist of a comparison of Heritage Laboratories results to the IU laboratory results, which will be broken down into dissolved and particulate concentrations. Tetra Tech left the site at 7:40 p.m.

ISSUES AND DEVELOPMENTS

Because this was a time-critical oversight performance, Tetra Tech was able to mobilize to the site within 8 hours of EPA's request. Deviations during the treatability study were noted during the reporting period. Specifically, on October 25, 2001, Dr. Backhus informed Tetra Tech that the two sampling time intervals at 8 and 16 hours were modified to 7 and 13 hours, respectively, because of time constraints with Dr. Backhus' class schedule. Another deviation noted during the treatability study involved the collection of the initial sample from the water surface of each 16-gallon drum. Instead of pumping the first sample from each drum, Dr. Backhus collected the samples by dipping sample bottles into each drum to save time. A last deviation to the plan involved IU students transporting some of the water samples to the IU laboratory for dilution in order to perform particle size analysis. These were the only deviations noted by Tetra Tech.

FUTURE ACTIVITIES

Tetra Tech will continue to conduct site visits and perform oversight and sampling activities at the Neal's Landfill site as directed by EPA.