Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
ASHTABULA COUNTY
ASHTABULA

Congressional District # 14

FIELDS BROOK

EPA ID# OHD980614572
Last Updated: February, 2007

Site Description

The Fields Brook site, located approximately 55 miles east of Cleveland, is in the city and county of Ashtabula, Ohio.  It is a six square-mile watershed of a Brook where, from 1940 to the present, up to 19 separate facilities operated. Activities range from metals-fabrication to chemicals production. Fields Brook flows into the Ashtabula River, which flows into Lake Erie approximately 1-1/2 miles downstream of the site. Sediments within Fields Brook, and soils on the Fields Brook floodplain/wetlands area, are contaminated with a wide variety of contaminants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated solvents and metals. Several industrial properties surrounding Fields Brook were potentially recontaminating the sediment within Fields Brook, which has then subsequently contaminated the sediments of the Ashtabula River.  Approximately 23,000 people live within one mile of the site, in the city of Ashtabula.

Site Responsibility

This site is being addressed through potentially responsible party (PRP) actions

Threats and Contaminants

Sediments taken from Fields Brook were contaminated with PCBs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, phthalates and low-level radionuclides. VOCs and heavy metals including mercury, lead, zinc, and cadmium have been detected in surface water from Fields Brook and the Detrex tributary. Contaminated sediments threaten drinking water intakes in Lake Erie. Contaminants detected in fish include VOCs and PCBs. The site poses a potential health risk to individuals who would accidentally ingest or come into direct contact with contaminated water from Fields Brook. Ingesting contaminated fish or sediments also may have caused adverse health effects.

Cleanup Progress

In 1986, a final cleanup decision for the Fields Brook sediment Operable Unit was reached between the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the state. In 1989, U.S. EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order to require the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to design and implement the 1986 Record of Decision (ROD) for the Fields Brook sediment. Recognizing that contaminated sediment was only part of the problem, U.S. EPA required the PRPs to also investigate the adjacent floodplain/wetland area and conduct a search for the source(s) of site contamination. 

The investigation of the floodplain/wetland areas along Fields Brook found that contamination, especially PCBs, did extend into the soils adjacent to the Brook. U.S. EPA issued a ROD on June 30, 1997, to select the remedy for the floodplain/wetlands Operable Unit (OU). The remedy required the excavation and disposal of PCB-contaminated soil in both industrial and residential portions of the OU. In addition, soils with low-level PCB contamination near residential areas were to be covered to reduce erosion into the Brook. An onsite landfill was to be built within the industrial area of the Fields Brook watershed to house PCB-contaminated soils and sediment from site.

In August, 1997, U.S. EPA issued an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) which modified the original 1986 sediment OU ROD. The ESD eliminated the need for onsite thermal treatment by allowing off-site treatment of contaminated sediment. The ESD also decreased the volume of sediment requiring excavation and eliminated the solidification requirement for sediments to be landfilled.

On September 30, 1997,U.S. EPA issued a ROD to select remedies for six source areas that could potentially recontaminate the Brook. In general, remedies require excavation and containment. 

In 1998, low-level radionuclides were discovered in the soil and mining residuals at the Millennium Inorganic Chemicals TiCl4 facility (one of the industrial source areas addressed by the September 1997 source control ROD) and in Fields Brook sediment and floodplain/wetland soils. The discovery of the low-level radionuclides (primarily radium-226 and radium-228) complicated the cleanup designs that were then underway. On April 8, 1999, U.S. EPA issued a Site-Wide ESD which modified all existing RODs for the site, established radionuclide cleanup levels, and outlined the design modifications necessitated by the presence of the radionuclides. In August 2001, U.S. EPA issued another ESD to address the discovery of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) below the brook sediments and floodplain soils. The DNAPL was found in Exposure Units 6 and 8, and indications are that it originally came from the historical Detrex discharge location. The ESD reverses a previous change in treatment location and allowed onsite thermal treatment of impacted soils and sediments.  

Cleanup work at the Fields Brook operable units was completed according to the following schedule:

Millennium Inorganic Chemicals TiCl4 Facility - Excavation of approximately 60,000 cubic yards of PCB- and radium-contaminated soil and mining residuals was completed in the fall of 1999. Excavated material was disposed of in the existing Millennium on-site landfill. 

Fields Brook Sediment and Floodplain/Wetland Soils -  Construction of an on-site landfill was completed in the summer of 2000. Excavation of Fields Brook soil and floodplain/wetland sediment and DNAPL-contaminated soil and sediment was completed in December 2002. Thermal treatment was be performed onsite for non-TSCA DNAPL-impacted soils and sediment. Restoration activities were completed in Spring 2003. 

RMI Metals - The cleanup work was completed in the summer of 2001.

Acme Scrap Iron and Metals / South Sewers - The excavation and disposal of PCB-contaminated soil and the cleaning of the south sewers was completed in the Fall of 2000. 

Detrex Chemicals- Construction of a slurry wall was completed in 2000.  Construction of DNAPL extraction wells began in 2001. The first phase of the DNPAL extraction system was constructed in 2002.  To date, over 11,000 gallons of DNAPL have been removed from the property.  Additional extraction wells will be required to expand the system and speed recovery.

North Sewers - The grouting and replacement of the contaminated North Sewers was completed in Fall of 2000.

Conrail - Physical construction at the Conrail source control OU was completed in December of 1998. Arsenic-contaminated soil was excavated and shipped for disposal off-site.

Ashtabula River - Contaminated sediments in the Ashtabula River were historically considered to be OU 3 of the Fields Brook Superfund Site. However, the Ashtabula River sediments are now being addressed outside of Superfund, under the Great Lakes Legacy Act program.  The Superfund program is monitoring the progress of the Ashtabula River cleanup.

Operations Maintence and Monitoring - The Fields Brook PRPs are conducting O&M monitoring at the Fields Brook landfill and in the brook. 

In 2005, O&M monitoring in the brook identified additional pockets of DNAPL contamination in Exposure Units (EU) 6 and 8 and in portions of the DS Tributary.  EPA is evaluating the source of the DNAPL and is working with Detrex and the Fields Brook PRPs to resolve issues of responsibility, implement additional measures to protect the brook, and clean up the identified contamination. 

In EU8, Detrex has installed an interceptor trench to cut off a potential subsurface pathway between the DNAPL source area and Fields Brook.  EPA is evaluating whether DNAPL seen in EU8 is material missed during the cleanup or the result of continuous subsurface movement of contamination from the Detrex source area.  Additional sampling in EU8 has also identified areas of elevated PCBs in brook sediment and floodplain soil.  Plans are underway to delineate the additional PCB material that's been uncovered and to remove material with DNAPL and/or PCB concentrations above cleanup levels.

In EU6, investigations in the area of the old North Sewer outfall have not found a continuing source of DNAPL.  Therefore it appears that the material in this area (primarily under the old outfall structure) was material missed during the original cleanup.  Plans are being prepared to excavate the DNAPL contamination as soon as weather allows.  Detrex is also continuing the investigation of DNAPL now seen in the DS Tributary to the northwest of its facility.  EPA will use this information to determine whether engineering measures already in place are sufficiently protective.  

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
Terese Van Donsel (vandonsel.terese@epa.gov)
(312) 353-6564

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
susan pastor
(312) 353-1325

Site Profile Information

This profile provides you with information on EPA's cleanup progress at this Superfund site.