LINCKLAEN – The Environmental Protection Agency has modified clean-up efforts for the Solvent Savers site after seeing a reduction in the contamination of ground soil over the past 11 years.
Solvent Savers was a chemical waste recovery facility used for re-processing and disposal from 1967 to 1974. The facility’s functions included distillation in order to recover solvents to be re-used, drum reconditioning and burial of solids, sludge, liquids and drums throughout the site. Quantities of wastes disposed are not fully known. There have been two 15-20-foot deep holes spotted on the property and it has been speculated a tanker was also buried there, said EPA investigators.
Lincklaen’s population of about 500 includes 15 diary farms and some of the cow pastures are located within two miles of the 13-acre site, near Mud Creek. The pastures are downstream from the site and may be at risk for contamination, the EPA said. Mud Creek is used for recreational purposes and corn, alfalfa and other crops are grown in the nearby area. There are also two residences near the site.
Concerns, which have been debated for years, have to do with the ground water, surface water, sediments and soil being at risk for volatile organic compound (VOC) contamination. Residents of the area have no public water supply and therefore rely on private wells.
The soil which may contain these VOC’s includes primarily tetrachloroethene, trichloroethylene and 1,1,1 trichloroethylene. The soil and ground water contain organics including arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium and lead. The soil also is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Direct contact with the contaminated compounds may pose a health risk. Wildlife in and around Mud Creek may also be exposed to pollutants escaping from the site into the water, the EPA reported. Town Supervisor Wayne Outwater says although the soil has been addressed, the water has not yet had anything done to it.
“I don’t think they will have the project done in my lifetime,” said Outwater.
Starting in 1989 during an EPA investigation, 127 drums were excavated and overpacked with leakproof outer drums. Two years later, the drums were removed for off-site disposal. During this time, another 33 drums and drum parts were removed and taken to an EPA-approved site.
In 1990 an investigation was done and a record of decision was signed to test the amount of contamination on and around the site. This remedy called for extraction and treatment of contaminated ground water and removal of the PCB and VOC soils.
The investigation following the decision of 1990 is scheduled to be complete by the end of fall. Already the 160 drums and nearly 200 cubic yards of contaminated soil which have been removed have reduced threats associated with further migration of the hazardous material, the EPA said.
Data collected indicates the remediation system has been effective over the past 11 years in removing the VOC’s from unsaturated soil in various areas. The volume of the contaminated soil decreased from about 135,000 to 2,000 cubic yards, the EPA reported.