Work Begins Next Week at Pine Street Canal Superfund Site (VT)
(Boston, Mass. – Aug. 11, 2010) –
Repairs on the underwater cap at the Pine Street Canal Superfund
Site are scheduled to begin the week of Aug. 16 and run through the
end of November.
The initial cleanup, performed in 2003 and 2004,
has been largely effective in preventing contamination that exists
beneath the canal from moving into the canal, but oily sheens and
globules of coal tar have been observed periodically in a 450-foot
long portion of the canal since 2005. Absorbent booms placed
across the canal have prevented contamination from entering Lake
Champlain while a more permanent solution could be designed and
constructed.
In areas where oil and coal tar are seeping out,
the existing sand cap will be replaced with a different kind of cap
that contains a material that will capture the oil and coal tar
before it is released into the canal. Over time, the new cap
will fill up and will have to be replaced. To extend the life
of the new cap, several passive recovery wells will be installed
along the banks of the canal, which will also prevent contamination
from migrating into the canal. Oil and coal tar that
accumulate in the recovery wells will periodically be removed and
shipped off site for treatment or disposal at an approved
facility.
Before the new cap can be installed, the
uppermost portion of the existing sand cap will have to be
removed. As the sand cap is being dredged, people who are
using the Burlington Waterfront bike path immediately adjacent to
the site may notice a petroleum-like odor. While the odor is
not a human health hazard, some may find it
unpleasant.
Work on the Pine Street cap will occur between
7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday. During this time the
public can expect to see an increase in truck traffic along Pine
Street. At the height of construction, up to 15-18 trucks per
day will need access to the Site.
The need for these repairs as well as a
conceptual design for the new cap is discussed in
EPA’s Explanation of Significant
Differences issued in April
2009. The public was given an opportunity to comment on these
planned modifications to the remedy in January
2009. Construction and maintenance of the new cap and
collection system will be undertaken by a group of Performing
Defendants who agreed to clean up the Site in 2000. EPA and VT
Department of Environmental Conservation will oversee the
project.
Site Background: A manufactured gas plant
operated at the Pine Street Canal site from 1895 to 1966.
Operations at the plant included disposal of wastes from the
gasification process, including coal tars. Manufactured gas wastes
were placed in and migrated to a canal on the site, which had been
built in the mid-1800’s to serve lumber yards in the
area.
A remedy to remove coal tar and place excavated
contaminated sediments into a disposal facility to be constructed
on the site was proposed by EPA in 1992, and withdrawn six months
later, due to considerable community opposition to the proposal.
From 1994-1998, additional studies were conducted by companies
responsible for the contamination under the auspices of EPA, the
Vermont Dept. of Environmental Conservation (VT DEC) and the Pine
Street Barge Canal Coordinating Council, a citizen’s advisory
group. In 1998, the Coordinating Council recommended constructing a
cap over contaminated sediments in the canal and nearby wetlands,
and restoring the wetlands, so that ecological risks at the site
would be addressed. EPA adopted that recommendation in 1998,
and the cap was built in 2003 and 2004.
More information: EPA Cleanup information on Pine
Street Canal (http://www.epa.gov/region1/superfund/sites/pinestreet)
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