Harris Corporation (Palm Bay Plant)

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index (PDF): ESD (2 pp., 72K), OU2 (8 pp., 432K),
  ESD-OU2 (4 pp., 153K)
• Harris Corp (Palm Bay Plant) Reuse Fact Sheet (PDF: 1 pp, 593K)
• Additional Site Documents including Five Year Reviews, Records of Decisions (ROD) and Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD).
• For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office (http://www.epa.gov/region4/foiapgs/submit.htm).

Site Background:
The Harris Corporation (Palm Bay Facility) site occupies approximately 340 acres in Palm Bay, Florida. Harris Corporation has been manufacturing electronic parts, communication or information processing equipment on the site since 1967 and is a potentially responsible party. EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) have been involved with this site since the early 1980s when groundwater in the area was found to be contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Plumes of contaminated groundwater were identified beneath the site and the adjacent well field owned by Palm Bay Utilities. Palm Bay Utility provides drinking water to approximately 33,000 Palm Bay residents. Approximately 27,00 people live within three miles of the site.

Cleanup Progress: Actual Construction Underway
In 1984, Harris Corporation began constructing an air stripping system to treat contaminated water from the Utilities' wells. Also at this time, under an Amended Consent Order between FDEP and Harris Corporation, a groundwater cleanup system was constructed on a portion of the Harris site. The original system of 11 extraction wells, an air stripping tower and one deep injection well was constructed by Harris Corporation to clean up the groundwater plumes south of Palm Bay Road and was completed in 1985. In March 1990, Harris and FDEP entered into another agreement to cleanup the groundwater plumes north of Palm Bay Road. Seven months later, construction of 13 extraction wells, an air stripping tower and a second injection well was completed.

In 1995, EPA made a final cleanup decision on the site that called for continued groundwater treatment and modified monitoring. In January 1997, EPA entered into a Consent Decree with Harris Corporation to perform the final construction activities. Harris immediately began the design for installing one monitoring well, converting five recovery wells to monitoring wells, plugging and abandoning 15 monitoring wells, and improvements to six monitoring wells. Construction activities started in the summer 1997 and was completed in 1998. Groundwater will continue to be monitored for specific volatile organic compounds and treated as necessary until the cleanup goals are reached.

A Five-Year Review was completed at the Site in February 2004. A second Five Year Review was completed in February 2009. In addition, an Explanation of Significant Difference (ESD) was signed in February 2009 outlining site institutional controls and the site as a delineated area for groundwater