ICG Iselin Railroad Yard

• Administrative Record Index: Deletion (PDF, 1 pp., 24K)
• 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 Yard site is an 80-acre property located at the intersection of Eastern Street and Magnolia Street in Jackson. The facility has had several owners over the years, each of whom used it for various purposes related to railroad operation. The Mobile and Ohio Railroad Co. operated the facility as a railroad station and maintenance depot from 1906 until 1940 when Gulf Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company purchased Mobile and Ohio Railroad Co. Gulf Mobile continued to use the facility as a railyard. In 1972, Gulf Mobile reorganized as the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co. (ICG). ICG used the site as a locomotive maintenance facility from 1972 until 1986, when the Williams Steel Co. purchased much of the property. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. owns the remainder of the property, which is not currently considered to be part of the ICG Iselin Railroad Yard site. Williams Steel Co. used its portion of the property as a steel fabrication facility from 1986 until 1989, when Iselin Properties, Inc., assumed ownership. ICG currently owns the site, and waste disposal practices at the site are unknown prior to ICG's operation of the facility. At one time, the facility may have included a round house, a steam locomotive fueling station, a coal-fired power plant, and a locomotive maintenance building. Currently, the site has several contaminated units: a main warehouse; numerous railroad tracks; storage tanks; a battery waste disposal pile; a rail-car fueling platform under an open-air shed; and the railyard's pollution control system, which includes a neutralization tank, a concrete tank, several drainage ditches, and a surface impoundment. The EPA required ICG to construct the pollution control system as a requirement of the temporary National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit it approved for the facility in 1973. This permit allowed ICG to discharge limited quantities of waste into the Jones Creek at intervals that would not harm the surrounding community or the environment. However, ICG exceeded the limits set by the NPDES permit in 1975 and again in 1980, when it reported that it had released large quantities of heavy metals into the creek. In 1990, the Tennessee Department of Health and Environment sampled surface soils at the site and found them to be contaminated with heavy metals. The EPA conducted subsequent studies of the surface soils, as well as on-site sediments, in 1991. The EPA confirmed that these media were contaminated with heavy metals, in addition to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as vinyl chloride and benzene. The site is located in a suburban, residential area. Approximately 31,000 people use ten municipal wells located within 4 miles of the site.

Cleanup Progress: Non-Time Critical Removal Action
The EPA and State entered into an agreement in the summer of 1994 to give the State the lead at this site.  The Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study indicated that lead was a primary constituent of concern at the site.  A Non-Time Critical Removal action was completed where approximately 716 tons of lead contaminated soil was removed from the site to an appropriate disposal facility. Also, the Rail Tie Area was stabilized by capping it to provide for positive drainage.

Following the removal action, the State signed a Record of Decision on November 4, 1999 with EPA's concurrence. The selected long term alternative was institutional controls: deed restrictions which prohibit residential development and drilling of water wells. The State also issued a Certification of Completion Letter that concludes the site has been remediated to the extent practicable. A Final Close Out Report and Final Remedial Action Report were signed in March 2000 which obtained construction complete status for this site. The site was deleted from the NPL in January 2002. 

Five Year Reviews:  The first Five Year Review for the site was signed on December 3, 2004.  .  Results of the 2004 Five Year Review indicate that:

• The Non-Time Critical Removal Action remedy to remove lead contaminated soil and backfill is still functioning as intended. The backfill soil is still in place. Observation did not indicate any degradation of the implemented remedy.

• The Non-Time Critical Removal Action remedy to compact and cap rail ties is still functioning as intended. The clay cap is still in place with thick vegetation cover.

• Deed Restrictions implemented by the ROD to prohibit residential development has been effective. Visits to the site have verified that no residential development has occurred.

• Deed Restrictions implemented by the ROD to prohibit drilling of water wells has been effective. Visits to the site have verified that no water wells have been drilled on the property.

The next Five Year Review will be required in December, 2009, five years from the signature date of the first review.