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WADENA COUNTY
SEBEKA
Congressional District # 08
RITARI POST & POLE
EPA ID# MND980904064Last Updated: August, 2006
Site Description
The 212-acre Ritari Post & Pole site, located approximately 3.5 miles northeast of the town of Sebeka (population: 775) in a rural area of Wadena County, Minnesota, is an inactive wood-preserving facility that was in operation from 1959 to 1991. The wood-preserving operation used creosote as a preservative until 1966, then changed to pentachlorophenol (PCP). From 1966 to 1973, the site used a process that allowed approximately 72,000 gallons of PCP to drip from treated wood directly onto the ground. In addition, approximately 3,200 gallons of PCP-contaminated sludge were applied directly to the ground. The site is partially fenced and located in a rural area. Onsite groundwater is contaminated with PCP, phenols, and dioxin. About 350 people live within three miles of the site. Beyond the property line, the monitoring wells and a private well are now showing no detection of contamination. The site is located three-quarters mile from a wetland area, draining into the Cat River which serves as a recreational area.Site Responsibility
This site is being addressed through federal and state actions.Threats and Contaminants
Soils are contaminated with PCP and dioxin; onsite groundwater is contaminated with PCP, phenols, and dioxin.Cleanup Progress
This site is being addressed as a state lead, fund-financed cleanup of the entire site. In June 1994, the state completed an investigation into the nature and extent of contamination at the site, which resulted in the selection of final cleanup remedies. Soil and preliminary groundwater sampling, conducted at the site, revealed the presence of dioxin. The remedy, selected in the June 1994 Record of Decision (ROD), included: bioremediation for PCP-contaminated soils; excavation and incineration of dioxin-contaminated soils, if soil washing is determined to be indefeasible; and groundwater monitoring. Design of the remedy began in 1995. In April 1997, the United States Environmental Protection Agency with assistance from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) removed 38 deteriorating drums, containing spent PCP solution. This allowed MPCA to decontaminate and move and / or dismantle onsite buildings in preparation for remedial activities. Installation of onsite and offsite monitoring wells and a deeper domestic well for the Ritari household were completed in December 1997 through a Remedial Action (RA). The RA was implemented under a scope of work described in the 1999 Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD). On September 25, 2002, the RA Completion Report was approved with modifications.
A Preliminary Close Out Report (PCOR) was completed in September 2001. Subsequent monitoring is being performed by MPCA and/or its contractors. The soil remedial design, consisting of placing contaminated soil in an unlined capped cell, was completed in 2001. The remedy construction was physically completed in September 2001. The groundwater remedy is monitored to assure the plume remains on site.
A five-year review was completed in September 2003 in accordance with the requirements of the 1994 ROD, as modified by the 1999 ESD. In response to the five-year review, several remaining locations with a possible pathway of exposure through exposed contaminated soils at the surface were sampled in 2004 with one location found above the dioxin cleanup level. Currently, a Supplemental RA Statement of Work (SOW) for additional sampling is being developed and rebudgeted under a State Cooperative Agreement Grant (CAG). MPCA and U.S. EPA are planning a completion of the sampling and work by September 2007 to prevent any potential or existing exposure pathways at the site.
Contacts
Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPAKaren Mason-Smith (mason-smith.karen@epa.gov)
(312) 886-6150
Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
dave novak
(312) 886-7478