Medley Farm Drum Dump

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index (All PDF): OU1 (14 pp.,884K ), ESD (2 pp., 54K)
• 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 Medley Farm Drum Dump site is located about five miles south of Gaffney, South Carolina. A seven-acre portion of a 62-acre farm property was used for storing drums of chemical wastes between 1973 and 1978. In May 1983, EPA and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) investigated the site after a local resident reported the off loading of numerous drums onsite. During June and July 1983, an EPA removal action collected and disposed of approximately 2100 cubic yards of contaminated soil and refuse, 5,400 drums and other containers of hazardous wastes, and 70,000 gallons of contaminated water and sludge from six small ponded areas. SCDHEC and EPA studies between 1984 and 1986 confirmed that extensive contamination of soils and groundwater by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) had occurred. Between 1988 and 1991, a group of five Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) completed a study of site contamination, which also proposed a site cleanup plan, or remedy. EPA selected this remedy in its Record of Decision (ROD) in May 1991. The area of soil requiring treatment consisted of about 1 acre, while approximately 10 acres of the site were underlain by contaminated groundwater requiring treatment. Groundwater continues to be a significant potable water source in areas surrounding the site.

Cleanup Progress: Operation and Maintenance Ongoing
The 1983 removal action removed the potential for immediate threats to public health and the environment. The May 1991 ROD selected a two-part remedial action (RA) for site cleanup: a soil vapor extraction (SVE) system to remove contaminants from three areas of soil contamination, and an 11-well groundwater extraction and treatment system to clean the groundwater. Construction of both systems was completed in 1995. The groundwater treatment and SVE systems operated continuously between 1995 and 2004.  Site groundwater concentrations of all of the contaminants decreased substantially during the groundwater extraction system's first four years of operation after 1995. However, in 1999 additional groundwater sampling in the area being treated using SVE showed groundwater contamination higher than was present in the recovery wells. Dual-phase recovery wells were installed in these areas (2000-2001) to capture both soil vapor and groundwater for treatment. As of September 2004 the groundwater recovery and treatment system had captured more than 100 million gallons of groundwater and removed approximately 243 pounds of VOCs, and more than 2,250 pounds of VOCs had been removed by the SVE system.  At that time, however, based on declining performance from both the groundwater treatment and SVE systems, EPA and SCDHEC approved cessation of groundwater pump-and-treat operations.  For the soil component (SVE), confirmatory sampling had shown that cleanup goals were met.  Approval was part of approving the PRPs’ work plans for a Supplemental Remedial Action for groundwater, which utilizes an enhanced reductive dechlorination (insitu biodegradation) treatment process.  The Supplemental RA is performed as groundwater injection events in which nutrient (lactate) solutions are placed into the affected groundwater, followed by groundwater monitoring for a period, followed by a sampling event to determine the effects and influence of the treatment.  The supplemental RA is an optimization measure intended to accelerate remedy completion, by treating the remaining areas of groundwater which still contain contaminants above the groundwater standards.  Between October 2004 and August 2006, four (4) injection events were conducted.  Groundwater results following the latter injection showed that groundwater concentrations were further reduced and that only eight (8) wells still had contaminants at levels above the groundwater standards.  The two 2006 treatments were largely focused on the remaining recalcitrant wells.  In early 2007, the PRPs’ consultant proposed suspending further injections for a period of time to allow the aquifer to re-equilibrate.  A site-wide groundwater sampling event was then conducted in September 2007.  The 2007 Annual Progress Review Report, focused mainly on the results from the September 2007 sampling and potential options for the injection/treatment strategy going forward, was provided to EPA and SCDHEC in February 2008.  In June 2008 EPA and SCDHEC completed their review of the report, finding that there have been continued reductions in the remaining groundwater contaminant mass in most site wells, although there were specific wells and areas where no, or smaller, reductions were achieved.  The review letter approved a general strategy for targeted injections at recalcitrant wells with subsequent monitoring and sampling after the injection event, as has been performed so far.  The fifth injection treatment event was completed in July-August 2008, and the associated site-wide groundwater monitoring event was conducted in late January-early February 2009.  The site-wide included surface water (Jones Creek). 

Next Steps:

Results from the January-February 2009 sampling event are currently under review.  As expected, sample results from Jones Creek show no detections of any site contaminants.  Based on the groundwater analytical results and EPA and SCDHEC review, specific plans for continued injection-treatment events will be proposed by the PRPs’ contractor, incorporating comments and input.  The next treatment event will be in progress during the summer of 2009.  Concurrent with review of the recent data, EPA is conducting a Five Year Review, which is due this year (2009).