Source: http://jacksonville.com, December 12, 2015
By: Terry Dickson
BRUNSWICK | The EPA and Hercules Inc. have agreed on a plan for another round of cleanup of toxaphene that is contaminating the creeks and marshes adjacent to what is now the Pinova chemical plant. Although regulators and the company are in agreement, the neighbors don’t like the plan because they assert caps, like the one proposed for an outfall ditch, don’t work.
It is called the Terry Creek Dredge Spoil/Hercules Outfall Site because of the problem areas; a canal that empties water from the plant site into Terry and Dupree creeks and the sites where tons and tons of dredged sediment, all laden with toxaphene, were piled.
The largest of the dredge spoil sites is a 75-acre mound in the horseshoe formed by Dupree and Terry Creeks, but, although it’s largest in area, that tree-covered pile does not present the biggest danger, EPA Remedial Project Manater Scott Martin told the Times-Union Tuesday.
Martin, other officials from the EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division were at the Brunswick’s old city hall Tuesday afternoon and night for a public information session on the proposed remedy.
Most of the lingering toxaphene contamination that shows up in the sediments and fish tissue is from the outfall ditch, he said.
Hercules took responsibility for the contamination and paid for the removal of about 35,000 cubic yards of material in 1999 and 2000, 27,000 cubic yards from the outfall ditch and its mouth into Dupree Creek. The remaining 8,000 cubic yards were excavated from hot spots along Terry Creek and Dupree Creek, which join just down tide from the outfall canal.
Soon after that cleanup, Hercules submitted a plan for the next round, but the EPA’s Office of Inspector General began questioning some testing methods for toxaphene and the process was drawn out, Martin said.
Most of those issues have been resolved, and a plan has been proposed that must be made binding in a consent agreement between the government and Hercules. That will require negotiations between Hercules’ lawyer, EPA lawyers and the U.S. Justice Department before the final document is submitted to a federal judge for approval.
The plan is for Hercules to build a lined outfall ditch to permanently divert the flow from the existing canal, Martin said. Then contractors would use sheet piling to seal off the mouth of the canal, which would then be drained and filled, Martin said.
The fill material would be added and compacted slowly capping the sediment and the toxaphene under layers of clean earth, he said.
The banks and control structure of the canal have become favorite roosting spots for egrets, woodstorks, roseate spoonbills and other birds that would be displaced.
Martin said officials are aware of that, but “The value of the natural creeks is much higher than the man-made ditch.”
Ron Adams, who owns the former O’Brien paint factory next door to the outfall ditch, doesn’t like the plan.
“How do you address the issue that caps don’t work?’’ he asked Martin.
He has examples of their failures close to home, the so-called Hercules 009 Landfill Superfund Site just north of Brunswick and the Brunswick Wood Preserving Superfund Site up U.S. 341 from the city. In both cases, caps were put in place but the EPA had to order another round of work to further seal off the contamination, toxaphene at 009 and creosote and other chemicals at Brunswick Wood Preserving.
The dynamic groundwater in the area means that contaminants will continue to move regardless of what covers them, Adams said.
Adams has learned a lot about groundwater contamination and not because of toxphene. Benzene and other chemicals that Hercules brought onto the plant site have gotten into the groundwater and flowed onto neighboring properties, including his.
“We’ve got benzene that’s 90 feet down,’’ Adams said.
The benzene concentration in the groundwater is 3,000 parts per billion. That’s 600 times the allowable limit of 5 parts per billion.
But the benzene is not an EPA issue, at least not yet. The EPD is handling the groundwater contamination and possible remedies include sealing it off with a vertical wall of material reaching to bedrock and “pump out and treat,’’ officials have said.
Meanwhile, Adams and other property owners are left with the stigma of contamination along land that would otherwise be extremely valuable.
Adams said the answer is removal of an additional 36,000 cubic yards of material.
“Until it is, I think Brunswick is going to have a hard time redeveloping in that area,’’ he said.
But Martin said excavation of underwater sediment is a problem because you just can’t get it all, that some always escapes the bucket or the scoop.
That was the problem with the first cleanup, Martin said. It removed enough toxaphene to significantly drop levels in fish tissue but it missed a lot.
After the cleanup, the state changed its fishing advisory for Terry Creek and Dupree Creek from “do not eat” to limited meals per month. Martin said the goal is to clean up the creeks to the point that fish aren’t contaminated and the public can catch and eat them without fear.
Carol Monell, Superfund remedial branch chief for Region IV, said of the 1999-2000 cleanup, “We had a good reduction in contamination in fish.”
Monell said the proposed remedy would result an even further reduction, but that EPA would continue monitoring and testing to ensure it works.
“We’ll still be here after the game is over,’’ she said.
Marilyn Lear, who lives at Riverside, a subdivision where dredge spoils from Terry Creek were piled in the marsh, agrees with Adams.
“A cap is not what we want. We back up to the marsh,’’ close to the dredge spoils, she said.
After talking with the EPA, she said she was encouraged that the EPA and Hercules are at least ready to move forward with good science.
“You’ve got to have contact to have contamination,’’ and the plan may end toxaphene’s contact with the environment, she said.
Regardless of the plan, the main question for Brunswick City Commissioner Julie Martin was “When?”
“I asked for dates and what would happen if those dates were not met,’’ she said. “We’re very disappointed it’s taken this long to get to this point.”
As the delays continue, costs rise as the contamination spreads, she said.
Adams was especially displeased with the pace.
“We’re 21 years into a fix, and we’re not much closer than when we started,’’ he said.