Public input leads to changes
in proposed PCB sampling
methods at Winston-Thomas plant
by Jennifer Jill Fowler
May 27, 1997
reprinted with permission of the Herald-Times, Inc.
Bloomington's Utilities Service Board will vote tonight on an amendment
to the agreement on PCB cleanup that would set a plan in motion for the
old WinstonThomas sewage plant.
Some revisions have been made to the initial plan based on public comments
collected by city and US Environmental Protection Agency officials on several
issues affecting the cleanup.
Westinghouse Electric Corp. used PCBs - polychlorinated biphenyls - at
its Bloomington capacitor factory from 1959 to 1977, leading to pollution
of area dumps and the Winston-Thomas plant.
Under a 1985 court-ordered agreement, Westinghouse was to incinerate
PCB-contaminated waste and soil. Public opposition stopped the incinerator
plan, and Westinghouse agreed to seek alternative cleanup methods.
The plan for Winston-Thomas calls for two phases of cleanup with Phase
1 beginning in August and Phase 2 beginning next spring
Phase l includes the remediation of digester tanks, the end point of
the sewage treatment process where solids collect, and three sludge-drying
beds, where material from the digester is taken to dry before it goes to
the landfill.
It also includes cleanup of the piping through which the hazardous material
was once pumped.
It's expected to be completed bylate fall.
Phase 2 is a larger project involving other contaminated areas as well
as the disposal of hazardous materials now stored in a building at the site.
The Monroe County commissioners approved the amendment to the cleanup
plan last week.
A call for public input on the plan has raised some issues that have
caused some changes in the plan, according to John Langley, environmental
projects coordinator for the city utilities department.
One of the concerns has to do with the number of samples taken to confirm
the area is clean.
The plan calls for removal of the sludge layer and half of the layer
beneath it. Five samples would be taken to verify that concentrations of
PCBs in the remainder fall below 50 parts per million.
Some questioned whether five samples would be enough.
As a result, the city has reserved the right to get Westinghouse to collect
additional samples as needed.
Another issue concerned the way samples will be collected at the site.
The plan calls for air sampling with a dust particle counter called mini/ram
technology, Langley said.
But some people felt, and the city agreed that may not be the best method
because the technology doesn't necessarily measure PCBs, it measures dust
that is assumed to be carrying PCBs.
The revised plan will include using a high-volume downwind air sampling
method in which an airpump draws a large volume of air over a sponge that
is later analyzed for PCBs, he said.
Dumping the contaminated materials at a remote site is another area of
concern addressed in the revised plan.
"If we're going to load it somewhere else in Bloomington otherthan
the area being monitored, thenwe need to monitor that area too,"said
Langley. "You want to measurewhat you're doing to the environment when
there's any handling of |waste material." |
People also were concerned that the transportation plan for removing
the contaminants was not complete.
But Langley said it's difficult to know the transportation plan until
the contractor reports on what plan will be used to remove the contaminants.
"Any transportation plan you did right now without knowing how the
contractor proposes to do removal would be a bit preliminary," he said."It's
a concern the public raised and it's a valid concern and we're going to
look at those issues carefully."
The plan requires the contractor submit a plan for review and approval
by the government parties as soon as the work plan is submitted.
Environmental activists also took issue with the 50-parts-per-million
contamination standard.
That concentration was proposed because project managers were unable
to agree to a site-wide cleanup level.
But expert data indicates the sludge and sand layers are removed, there's
nothing left with more than a concentration of 26 ppm, Langley said.
That's because PCBs stick to the sludge, rather than migrate. Data from
the sand layers - which will be removed along with the sludge- now show
PCB values below 50 ppm, he said.
But if by some chance the soil looks suspicious once that is removed,
consent decree parties have the right to take more samples,he said.
"We think the digesters and drying beds are fairly easy to do this
year, that we can do it this year and that we can do it safely," said
Langley.
Dan Hopkins of the EPA described the 50 ppm standard as a "safeguard."
"It's basically a check on our belief taht we're not going to get
a high level of concentrationc" he said.
"We didn't want to have sleeping dragons in there in case we were
wrong. I know that (not) everyone is real comfortable with that. I personally
am very comfortable with that and I think it's going to be worth using this
type of standard to get the site under way and build some momentum." |
