Oregon Bulletin
March 1, 2011
OTHER NOTICES
COMMENTS DUE: March 31, 2011
PROJECT LOCATION: Portland
Water Bureau municipal water well PW-14 is located in the City of Fairview at
the west end of Blue Lake Regional Park, near the intersection of NE Marine
Drive and NE Interlachen Lane.
PROPOSAL: The Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality proposes a conditional approval of cleanup actions the
Portland Water Bureau performed at municipal well PW-14 to remove a small
amount of mercury (less than a gram) released to the well from a failed
submersible pump. This proposed approval is also known as a conditional no
further action determination.
HIGHLIGHTS: DEQ reviewed the
results of the cleanup work and agrees with the Portland Water Bureau’s
conclusion that this well is safe for resumed use in the Portland municipal
water system.
Laboratory data reviewed by DEQ indicates that water
pumped from well PW-14, which is representative of the public water supply,
contains no detectable mercury.
DEQ has determined that no further action is required
because the site no longer poses a risk that exceeds the acceptable risk level
defined in Oregon law.
DEQ is making this approval conditional because
following cleanup actions, the final deep well water
sampled (at 350 feet) contained detectable mercury. The detected concentration
of mercury slightly exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency Maximum
Contaminant Level established for mercury in drinking water.
DEQ is confident in its proposed conditional cleanup
approval determination for the following reasons:
• Water pumped from PW-14 has been repeatedly sampled
at the wellhead and consistently found to contain no detectable mercury.
• DEQ does not expect that water from the 350 foot depth in this well circulates to the well pump at
the 235 foot depth.
• Following cleanup actions, and collection of the
final deep well water sample, millions of gallons of water were pumped from the
well prior to resumed use as a public supply well. This action further removed
any residual mercury from the well.
• Water from PW-14 is combined with water from up to 26
other wells and surface water sources, prior to treatment and distribution to
municipal water customers.
HOW TO COMMENT: Send
comments by 4:30 p.m., Thursday, March 31, to DEQ Project Manager Ken Thiessen,
DEQ Northwest Region Office, 2020 SW 4th Ave., Suite 400, Portland, Oregon
97201, or thiessen.kenneth@deq.state.or.us
Review the file by appointment at DEQ Northwest Region
Office, 2020 SW 4th Ave., Ste 400, Portland, Oregon. Call File Review
Specialist, Dawn Weinberger at 503-229-6729 to schedule an appointment.
To access site information and the Staff Report
Recommending Conditional No Further Action Determination Municipal Well PW-14
Mercury Spill Cleanup, go to
http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/ECSI/ecsidetail.asp?seqnbr=5323
THE NEXT STEP: After the public
comment period closes, DEQ will consider all comments before making a decision.
DEQ will hold a meeting to receive comments about this site if requested by ten
or more people or by a group with a membership of 10 or more. DEQ will publish
a public notice announcing the final decision in this publication.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION: DEQ is
committed to accommodating people with disabilities. Please notify DEQ of any
special physical or language accommodations or if you need information in large
print, Braille or another format. To make these arrangements, contact DEQ Communications
& Outreach (503) 229-5263 or toll free in Oregon at (800) 452-4011; fax to
503-229-6899; or e-mail to deqinfo@deq.state.or.us.
People with hearing impairments may call DEQ’s TTY
number 711.
COMMENTS DUE: 5 p.m., April 1, 2011
PROJECT LOCATION: The former
Frontier Leather site is located at 15104 SW Oregon Street (formerly 1210 NE
Oregon Street), in Sherwood, Oregon. The Ken Foster Farm property is a 40-acre
tract of former pasture land located at 23000 to 23500
SE Murdock Road in the southeast corner of Sherwood.
PROPOSAL: DEQ proposes to enter
into a settlement with two potentially liable parties for cleanup of these
sites. The parties are Linke Enterprises, the owner and operator of the
Frontier Leather site, and Don Nelson who worked for Frontier Leather Company
as plant manager from 1966 to 1972 and as general manager from 1972 until 1988.
The settlement would be in the form of a consent judgment. The settlement would
require the parties to pay DEQ specified amounts to be used by DEQ for future
cleanup and wetlands restoration of these sites. In return, the settling
parties would receive a covenant not to sue from the State and contribution
protection as to third parties regarding the matters addressed by the
settlement.
HIGHLIGHTS: The Frontier Leather
Company began operating a tannery at the site in 1947. The company constructed two three-acre sedimentation lagoons between
late 1964 to early 1965. The company discharged wastewater to these
sedimentation lagoons intermittently between 1965 and 1982. The company
stockpiled chromium-treated hide splits on Tax Lot 600 and buried them at the
facility between 1971 and 1974. The company created a landfill at its facility
to dispose of an estimated 21,000 cubic yards of chromium-containing wastes
including chromium-treated hide splits and chromium-containing vacuum filter
sludge. Some of the hide splits were later covered with approximately two feet
of soil. However, a large percentage of the landfill was not adequately
consolidated and capped to control possible direct contact or surface water
runoff. The company stopped putting hide splits in the landfill in 1973.
In January 2002, Pacific III, LLC, entered into a
prospective purchaser agreement with DEQ prior to acquiring Tax Lots 400 and 500
from Transpacific, a company that acquired the tannery in the late 1980s and
ran it until final closure in 1999. The former tannery building, wastewater
treatment facility, and former battery manufacturing building were located on
these land parcels. The agreement defined the cleanup to be performed by
Pacific III LLC in exchange for DEQ limiting the company’s future liability for
cleanup costs at the site. DEQ approved the required work the company did on
each parcel.
The rest of the Frontier Leather facility property that
was not included in the prospective purchaser agreement was designated as a DEQ
orphan site in 2002. An orphan site is one where the party or parties
responsible for the contamination are unknown, unable or unwilling to pay for
needed remedial actions.
DEQ completed an investigation and feasibility study
during 2003 and 2004 but did not finalize a cleanup plan because of lack of
funds to complete the work.
DEQ
uncovered records from the former tannery indicating that tannery wastes were
land-applied to a 40-acre tract of former pasture land at Ken Foster Farms during the 1960s. Ken Foster was an employee of the
Frontier Leather Company. The farmland was later subdivided into eleven smaller
tracts and redeveloped as very-low-density residential properties.
DEQ initiated evaluation of the farm
land and referred the site to the US Environmental Protection Agency for
further evaluation following DEQ’s preliminary assessment in 2005.
Investigations of the farm confirmed presence of high concentrations of
chromium in surface soils consistent with land application of the tannery
wastes. The original 40-acre farm was subdivided into approximately 10 separate
lots for residential use.
In 2007, EPA, published findings of their assessment of
the former Ken Foster Farm site. The EPA work confirmed that several heavy
metals, primarily chromium, lead, and mercury were present at elevated
concentrations in site soils in many areas on the former farm site. EPA also
found contamination in a wetland pond at this site. Sampling performed to date
indicates the metals lead and chromium in site soils are from land application
of tannery wastes at the site.
HOW TO COMMENT: Send
written comments on the proposed remedial action by 5 p.m. April 1, 2011, to
DEQ Project Manager Mark Pugh, DEQ Northwest Region, 2020 SW 4th Ave., Suite
400, Portland, Oregon 97201, or e-mail to pugh.mark@deq.state.or.us
View the proposed settlement at
http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/ECSI/ecsidetail.asp?seqnbr=2638
Please call, File Review Specialist Dawn Weinberger at
503-229-6729 to schedule an appointment to review the project files. If you
have any questions, please contact the project manager at 503-229-5587.
THE NEXT STEP: DEQ will review and
consider all comments received during the comment period. If DEQ then
determines to enter into the settlement with Linke Enterprises and Don Nelson,
a consent judgment will be filed with the Washington County Circuit Court. The
court must approve the consent judgment for it to take effect.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION: DEQ is
committed to accommodating people with disabilities. Please notify DEQ of any
special physical or language accommodations or if you need information in large
print, Braille or another format. To make these arrangements, contact DEQ
Communications & Outreach 503-229-5696 or toll free in Oregon at
800-452-4011; fax to 503-229-6762; or e-mail to deqinfo@deq.state.or.us
People with hearing impairments may call 711.
NOTICE PERIOD: March 1–31, 2011
PROJECT LOCATION: 6936 N.
Fathom Street, Portland, OR 97217
DESCRIPTION: The Department of
Environmental Quality is approving the use of Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) as an
Interim Remedial Action to remove vadose zone contamination beneath the
facility. The system will also help to prevent contaminant vapors from entering
the building at levels above risk-based standards and will be a vital remedial
action that will contribute toward the final closure of the site.
HIGHLIGHTS: Site investigations at
the Western Star Truck Plant have identified levels of contaminants beneath the
Facility in the area of a former wheel painting booth that exceed DEQ’s
risk-based standards for vapor intrusion to indoor air. Under DEQ’s oversight,
the Facility conducted a soil vapor investigation following DEQ’s Guidance
for Assessing and Remediating Vapor Intrusion in Buildings. Based on the
results of that investigation, the Facility conducted a Focused Feasibility
Study and proposed that SVE be used to remove contamination beneath the
foundation of the building and control the influx of vapors into the affected
area of the building. DEQ reviewed the studies and agreed that SVE was the most
appropriate method to mitigate vapors and protect site workers. The facility
conducted a pilot test of the system and evaluated system emissions via an EPA
risk-based air emissions model. The system and the emissions will not emit
contaminants at concentrations that pose a risk. DEQ and the Facility are
currently working together to finalize the system details prior to an
anticipated start date of April 2011.
HOW TO COMMENT: The project
file may be reviewed by appointment at DEQ’s Northwest Region Office at 2020 SW
4th Ave, Suite 400, Portland, Oregon 97214. Comments must be received by 5:00
PM on March 31, 2011 and sent to Michael Romero, Project Manager, at the
address listed above.
THE NEXT STEP: The SVE system is
projected to start up in April 2011. Decisions regarding long
term operation of the SVE system will occur after system performance
monitoring and the Remedial Investigation and site-wide risk assessment is
complete.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION: DEQ is
committed to accommodating people with disabilities. Please notify DEQ of any
special physical or language accommodations or if you need information in large
print, Braille or another format. To make these arrangements, contact DEQ
Communications & Outreach (503) 229-5696 or toll free in Oregon at (800)
452-4011; fax to 503-229-6762; or e-mail to deqinfo@deq.state.or.us
People with hearing impairments may call DEQ’s TTY
number, 1-800-735-2900.
The online versions of the OARs and Oregon
Bulletin are provided for convenience of reference and
enhanced access. The official, record copies of these
publications are the original paper filings.
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