Coleman-Evans Wood Preserving Company

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index (PDF): Removal (6 pp.,166K ), Amend (13 pp., 761K) ,OU2, October 2006 (2pp., 94k), OU1 ESD (PDF: 2 pp, 114K), OU1 ESD 2 (1 pp., 44K), OU1 ESD 3 (2 pp., 36K), OU1 ESD 4 ( 2pp., 37k)
• Reuse Success Fact Sheet (PDF, 1 pp., 230K)
• 5-Year Review Report, June 2004 (PDF, 70 pp., 5.4M)
• Phase 1 Completion Announcement (PDF, 2 pp., 753K)
• Corps of Engineers' Web Site
• Record of Decisions: OU1 (1986), AMD OU1 (1990), AMD OU1 (1997), OU2 (2006)

Site Background:
The Coleman-Evans Wood Preserving Site located in Whitehouse, Florida is an 11-acre former wood preserving facility. From 1954 to the mid-1980's, wood products were pressure treated at the Site with a mixture of pentachlorophenol and fuel oil. The wastewater from the treatment process was discharged into a drainage ditch, which channeled the water south to McGirts Creek. The drainage ditch often overflowed spreading pentachlorophenol and dioxin contamination over most of the site and through the residential neighborhood. All of the residences in the vicinity of the Site use private wells as a source of drinking water. It is estimated that there are 180 domestic wells within a one mile radius of the Site and 1,620 wells within a three mile radius of the Site. Soil, sediment, and shallow groundwater in the residential area adjacent to the site was contaminated with pentachlorophenol and dioxin. Since the shallow aquifer is separated from the deeper drinking water aquifer by an impermeable layer of clay, area residents are generally at risk only from direct contact with contaminated soil or sediment. However, ingestion of contaminated groundwater from the shallow aquifer is also a potential health threat due to possible defects in drinking water wells. All response actions at the site to date have been conducted by EPA due to the financial inability of the potentially responsible party to fund such activities.

Cleanup Progress: Construction Completed

Between 1986 and 1994, EPA conducted several emergency response actions at the site to address immediate threats that could impact residents living near the site. These emergency response actions included: 1) excavating two on-site sludge disposal pits, including 1000 pounds of pure pentachlorophenol, and disposing of the waste off-site, 2) removing contaminated structures on-site, 3) installing a temporary fence at the drainage ditch north and south of General Avenue to keep children from playing with contaminated sediment in the drainage ditch, 4) excavating contaminated soil and sediment in the residential area and placing it on-site, and 5) installing permanent fencing and warning signs around the site pending final response actions.

EPA selected a response action for the site in an Amended Record of Decision (AROD) in September 1997, which included the excavation of on-site and off-site contaminated soil and sediment followed by an innovative on-site thermal treatment called thermal desorption. The response action also provided for the collection of contaminated groundwater and treatment onsite via granular activated carbon. The selected cleanup standards were final for all contaminants and all media except for dioxin in soil.  The final cleanup standard, and any additional action necessary to address dioxin in soil below the national recommended standard of 1.0 μg/kg, would be performed subsequent to this response action. In the Fall 1997, EPA signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct the remedial design and to oversee the remedial action. In Spring 1999, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractor mobilized to the site to begin implementation of the remedial action. Installation of the temporary on-site thermal desorption unit and associated performance testing were completed and the unit began treating contaminated soil at a rate of approximately 300 tons per day. A wastewater treatment plant also was installed on-site to treat contaminated groundwater and surface water runoff. Soil treatment was completed in May 2004 when cleanup standards for soil established in the AROD were achieved sitewide. Over 210,000 tons of soil were treated, approximately 320,000 gallons of hazardous liquids (emulsified oils) were segregated and disposed, over 2,000 cubic yards of hazardous solids (including demolition debris, filter media, and sludges) were disposed, and approximately 73,500,000 gallons of groundwater and storm water have been treated and discharged.

Due to the comprehensive elimination of contamination in soil above and below the groundwater table and the significant quantity of groundwater treated during the soil phase of the remedy, the residual groundwater contamination remaining to be addressed was limited in both extent and concentration. For this reason, additional remedial design was undertaken to determine if long-term pump and treatment, the anticipated approach for addressing the remaining groundwater contamination, was the most cost-effective technology for completing the ground water cleanup. This design evaluation identified a single monitoring well with pentachlorophenol concentrations slightly above the cleanup standard of 1.0 μg/l.  EPA issued an Explanation of Significant Differences to implement monitored natural attenuation for this remaining contamination, and several years of monitoring data indicate that this approach is working.  Monitoring will continue until cleanup levels have been attained.

A final Record of Decision for operable unit two to address the residual dioxin in site soils was completed in September 2006. This Record of Decision documents the final remedy for the Coleman-Evans Wood Preserving Superfund Site.  A number of locations outside the area addressed by the prior response action were identified during a focused remedial investigation with dioxin concentrations in soil below the national recommended standard of 1.0 μg/kg, but above the selected cleanup standard of 0.007 μg/kg.  Due to the numerous potential sources of dioxin at and around the site and because the residual dioxin concentrations were low, EPA developed a multi-tiered weight of evidence approach to distinguish site-related dioxin contamination from other ambient sources.  The principal lines of evidence used for the approach included an extensive review of historical site operations, contaminant pathway evaluation including review of aerial photographs for topography and drainage patterns, and a dioxin “fingerprinting” and principal components analysis to discriminate dioxin contamination by source.  Evaluation of the data in context with the observed distribution of the dioxin congeners resulted in the delineation of cleanup target areas requiring further action.  A remedial design was completed in 2007 to address excavation and restoration of the cleanup target areas, disposal of the soil on the facility property, installation of a 2-ft soil cover, and stormwater management.  Construction of the final remedy was completed in September 2007, and institutional controls are being developed to ready the property for reuse.