Cleanup Progress
OMC - By 1980, sampling had been conducted in the WH and
at the OMC site. In 1984, a Record of Decision (ROD) selecting a
mixture of onsite containment and offsite disposal was issued by the
U.S. EPA. Design work began in 1985 but was halted due to litigation
between the U.S. EPA and OMC regarding access to the site. OMC
subsequently submitted their own proposal to clean up the site and
in 1989, the U.S. EPA and OMC entered into a Consent Decree
implementing OMC's cleanup proposal, and the decision was amended in
1989. Construction began in 1990, including dredging of the harbor,
onsite treatment of certain high concentration wastes, construction
of three onsite containment cells and consolidation of contaminated
soils and sediments within those cells, installation of groundwater
extraction wells in the cells, construction of a new harbor slip
and, most recently, construction of three onsite water treatment
systems. All construction is complete. It is anticipated that water
will be removed from the cells and treated for an extended period of
time.
WH site - The U.S. EPA sampled the sediments in the harbor
and some soil areas around the (then operating) OMC Plant 2 for PCBs
in the early 1980s. We selected a cleanup action in a ROD that we
issued in May 1984. The selected cleanup action included the
dredging of PCB-contaminated sediments in the harbor and of
PCB-contaminated soils and sediments in certain areas of OMC Plant 2
to meet a 50 ppm cleanup level. Some of the dredged or excavated
material was to be contained in disposal cells built on the OMC
Plant 2 site and some was to be disposed of offsite. Later, as we
began to design the cleanup remedy, we were sued by OMC and work was
halted until a resolution could be reached.
Still later, in 1989, OMC submitted an alternative cleanup plan
for U.S. EPA approval. We approved the alternative plan in a 1989
ROD Amendment. OMC began to implement the new cleanup plan in 1990
and completed all cleanup construction work by 1994. The new plan
consisted of the dredging of the harbor area to schieve a PCB
cleanup level of 50ppm, the creation of a new boat slip in the
harbor and the closing of an old slip,and the excavation of certain
surface soils and sediments around OMC Plant 2 to meet the PCB
cleanup level. Sediments from the old slip and certain highly
contaminated soils from the OMC Plant 2 area were thermally treated
onsite to remove the PCBs for off site destruction. The rest of the
excavation and dredging spoils, along with the treated soil and
sediment, were placed into three containment cells that were built
on the WH site.
The three containment cells are located in the old harbor boat
slip and on the north side of OMC Plant 2. Each cell has vertical
subsurface barrier walls around them and a barrier layer on the top.
OMC installed several groundwater extraction wells in each cell to
prevent the release of PCBs into the environment from the cells.
Water is periodically pumped from the cells to create an inward
gradient so if there is a breach in the barrier walls, groundwater
will flow into the cells instead of out. The pumped water is treated
to remove PCBs and then released into the harbor. The cells will
require someone to operate and maintain them for many years.
Currently, the U.S. EPA is undertaking this work; later this year,
however, the Illinois EPA (IEPA) will be in charge of operating and
maintaining the cells.
Future cleanup actions for the WH site are being evaluated by the
U.S. EPA and the IEPA.
WCP - This site was discovered when implementing the WH
PCB cleanup. the U.S. EPA and the North Shore Gas Company entered
into an Administrative Order on Consent in September 1990 for
completion of a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study
(RI/FS). The RI was completed in February 1995 and a final FS was
released in November 1998.
The U.S. EPA signed a ROD on September 30, 1999, for the final
cleanup of the site. Groundwater will be cleaned up to remove
arsenic, ammonia, and benzene; soils will be excavated and treated
to stabilize PAH and arsenic. The design phase for this work began
in 2001 and will be completed in 2003. Cleanup work will begin in
fall 2003 and continue through 2007.
OMC Plant 2 site - Before OMC Plant 2 could be abandoned
by the OMC bankruptcy trustee, the U.S. EPA and the IEPA reached an
agreement with the trustee whereby the trustee would perform some
cleanup actions inside the plant. These actions included the removel
of certain waste chemicals and the cleanup of some machinery. Now
that the plant has been abandoned, the U.S. EPA is planning to
perform additional interior cleanup work to prevent the release of
PCBs and other compounds into the environment. This work is
scheduled for spring 2003.
The U.S. EPA and the IEPA are also planning to expand the
Outboard Marine Corporation NPL site description to include OMC
Plant 2 as the fourth OU. Afterwards, we will perform an RI/FS at
the site to determine the nature and extent of residual contaminants
and design an appropriate cleanup approach. As this could take
several years to complete, we will also be looking at undertaking
interim expedited cleanup actions as necessary to prevent the
release of contamination into the harbor or Lake Michigan..
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