A portion of Whirlpool’s property on Jenny Lind Road has been contaminated with trichloroethylene, or TCE, since at least 1989 when it was discovered at the site, according to Whirlpool’s environmental consulting firm, Environ.
Whirlpool is in the midst of a state-approved cleanup plan that began in March with the treatment of contaminated groundwater with a chemical oxidant.
A second round of chemical injections took place in late May, the same month Whirlpool announced it had discovered the hot spot, described as “an additional, limited area of soil with increased concentration” of TCE. The location is near a building where the chemical was used as a degreasing agent between the late 1960s and early 1980s before it was found to be harmful, according to Whirlpool.
In September, Whirlpool asked the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality for permission to remove soil from the hot spot using large-diameter borings. Of Whirlpool’s plan, the state said the amount of soil targeted “seems inadequate.”
“Four-foot diameter boreholes set on 15-foot centers will not remove even half of the contaminated soil,” the ADEQ stated in a letter to Whirlpool and Environ.
ADEQ asked Whirlpool to explain how removal of the “limited amount of soil proposed in the work plan” would fix the problem. This week, Whirlpool and Environ responded via letter, noting that their hot-spot removal plan was designed to “aggressively address the soil contamination” in a way “that can be quickly and effectively implemented and completed.”
“Additional soil removal … beyond that proposed in the work plan would offer few, if any, additional environmental benefits,” Mike Ellis of Environ stated, “while creating significant additional complications that would negatively affect the progress of onsite and offsite remediation, as well as the redevelopment of the overall site.”
The plan also includes the use of crushed limestone and a third chemical injection.
“As described in the (approved cleanup plan), this hot spot removal effort is technically feasible for the kind of moderate volumes Whirlpool has proposed to remove, and the hot spot removal effort is effective in reducing the mass of TCE at the site,” Ellis wrote.
The removal of large amounts of soil, he noted, “presents several engineering and operational drawbacks.”
“Substantial additional soil removal would threaten the structural integrity of the former manufacturing building and stability of the electrical substation,” Ellis wrote. “It would also require de-watering operations. These issues would likely complicate and delay completion of the remediation activities required under the (cleanup plan) and the ongoing redevelopment of the property.”
In late September it was announced that Ohio-based Spartan Logistics finalized the purchase of a 619,508-square-foot distribution building at the Whirlpool site.