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Zellwood Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site

Zellwood Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site
EPA ID: FLD049985302
Location: Zellwood, Orange County, FL
Congressional District : 3
NPL Status: Proposed 12/30/1982; Final: 9/08/2003
Project Manager


Documents:About Adobe Portable Document Format


Site Description 
The Zellwood Groundwater Contamination site covers 57 acres and is located on Jones Avenue approximately one-half mile west of Zellwood, Florida. Numerous companies have operated in this industrial area since the early 1960's. Beginning in 1963, Drum Service Company of Florida, a drum recycling facility, used two unlined, evaporation/percolation ponds for treatment and disposal of wastewater generated as part of their operations. In 1980, the company redesigned their treatment system and stopped using these ponds for disposal of wastewater. In 1981, the ponds were drained and contaminated sediments were removed and sent to an appropriate off-site landfill. The ponds were then filled in. Adjacent to Drum Service of Florida, Douglas Fertilizer and Chemical Company and Southern Liquid Fertilizer discharged wastewater from their production process into three unlined lagoons. Additionally, from 1960 to 1983, the Zellwin Farms Company facility, a vegetable washing and packing plant in the area, discharged wastewater from the vegetable washing process into a drainage ditch south of Jones Avenue.

Approximately 300 homes are located within a 1-mile radius of the site and depend on private wells as their sole source of drinking water. The Town of Zellwood is ½ mile away, and about 5,000 of its residents use groundwater for drinking water. A portion of the site is a vegetated wetland. The groundwater, sediments, soil, and sludges were contaminated with organics, pesticides, and heavy metals from former waste disposal practices at the site.

The site was placed on the EPA's National Priorities or "Superfund" List in September 1983. Several investigations followed which resulted in the cleanups described below.

Site Responsibility: This site is being addressed through Federal, State, and private party actions.

Threats and Contaminants 

The primary contaminants of concern (COCs) in the groundwater are metals and nutrients.

Cleanup Approach  

Abandoned Drum Removal Action: In 1983, as a result of an early EPA inspection, an immediate response action was taken to remove drums from an abandoned drum area located in the northern portion of the site. EPA provided oversight of the drum removal which was funded and conducted by one of the potentially responsible parties.


Soil Remedial Action: In 1987, EPA issued the first Record of Decision (ROD) which specified thermal treatment of the contaminated soil. This ROD was amended in 1990 to change the remedy to excavation, solidification, and on-site disposal of the remaining contaminated soil and sediment. Under this ROD, contaminated soils were excavated, mixed with a solidification or fixing agent and placed behind Drum Services. This remedial action, which was completed in 1993, created a solidified monolith which was covered with soil and planted with grass to prevent erosion. When contamination is left on-site, even if it has been treated as in this case, EPA is required to conduct a review of the remedy every five years to ensure the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment. Both the first five-year review and the second five-year review of this remedy, completed in October 2000 and September 2006, respectively, determined that the solidified monolith remained protective. Copies of both the five year reviews were placed at the Zellwood Elementary School, near the site, and are available for public information.

Ground Water Remedial Action: Many ground water investigations were conducted at the site between 1984 and 1999. The results of these investigations indicated that a plume of ground water contamination containing numerous metals and nutrients (i.e., ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites) is present in the ground water at the site. The plume is centered on the Coatings Applications and Waterproofing Company and W.R. Grace properties and extends several hundred feet south of Jones Ave. EPA concluded that one of the former Douglas Fertilizer Ponds, suspected of being a continual source of ground water contamination, was no longer a significant contributor to the ground water plume. A baseline risk assessment for human health was completed. It indicated that an unacceptable risk to human health associated with ground water at the site, would occur only if people were to drink the shallow ground water at and around the site in the future. Such future use of the shallow ground water, while possible, is not anticipated.
EPA issued a final Record of Decision (ROD) in August 2000 to address the ground water contamination. The ROD selected monitored natural attenuation with institutional controls as the ground water remedy. This remedy is protective of human health and the environment, and will allow for continued evaluation of the decreasing concentrations of contaminants in ground water. EPA negotiated an agreement with the potentially responsible parties which included a cash settlement for past EPA costs, an agreement to maintain the solidified monolith as specified in the "Operation and Maintenance Plan" dated August 1994, and an agreement to perform the sampling and analysis associated with the monitored natural attenuation remedy as specified in the "Post ROD Monitoring Plan" dated December 4, 2000. These documents are also available at the Zellwood Elementary School for public information.

As specified in the "Post-ROD Monitoring Plan" (December 4, 2000), ground water will be sampled quarterly for the first year, semi-annually for four years and then annually for 10 years. The first year of quarterly sampling began in early 2002. Sample results will analyzed over time to ensure the site contaminants are naturally degrading. The ground water in the area will be monitored until the standards specified in the ROD have been reached.

Cleanup Progress
The second Five Year Review was completed in September 2006.  Issues identified included the following: the need for two additional down gradient monitoring well pairs for OU-2; the need to re-survey the top of casing elevations for monitoring wells MW-11SA, MW-11SB; and MW-8SB that were retrofitted as the result of vehicular/heavy equipment damage; the need to create another site, the Jones Avenue VOC Contamination Site, to address a VOC plume that does not appear to have originated at the Zellwood site; and the need for implementation of institutional controls for OU1 (namely placement of a restrictive covenant to designate the location of the onsite landfill and restrict activities the would damage the landfill cover).

Site Repository
Zellwood Elementary School
E. Washington Ave.
Zellwood, FL  32798

For information about the contents of this page please contact Brenda Lane

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