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Fields Brook
Site Information
- Ashtabula, OH (Ashtabula County)
- EPA ID# OHD980614572
- NPL Factsheet
- CERCLIS listing
- Alias(es): N/A
Contact Information
Community Involvement Coordinator
Susan Pastor (pastor.susan@epa.gov)
312-353-1325 or 800-621-8431, ext. 31325
Remedial Project Manager
Owen Thompson (thompson.owen@epa.gov)
312-886-4843 or 800-621-8431, ext. 64843
Ohio EPA Contact:
Sig Williams, Project Manager
330-963-1210
regan.williams@epa.state.oh.us
Repositories
(where to view written records)
Ashtabula County District Library
335 W. 44th Street
Ashtabula, OH
Kent State Library
3431 West 13th St
Ashtabula, OH
Background
Fields Brook site, located about 55 miles east of Cleveland in the city and county of Ashtabula, Ohio, is a six square-mile watershed of a brook where up to 19 separate facilities have operated since 1940. Activities range from metals-fabrication to chemicals production. Fields Brook flows into the Ashtabula River, which flows into Lake Erie approximately 1-1/2 miles downstream of the site. Fields Brook sediment and soil from the Fields Brook floodplain/wetlands area are contaminated with a wide variety of contaminants including PCBs, chlorinated solvents and metals.
Site Updates | News Releases | Fact Sheets || Technical Documents | Five-Year Reviews | Legal Agreements
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Site Updates
Update - December 2012
The Fields Brook site is comprised of four miles of brook and six industrial areas. Cleanup is ongoing in the area known as the Detrex Corp. facility. "Extraction" wells 
pull out liquid containing high levels of volatile and semi-volatile contaminants such as trichloroethylene or TCE, hexachlorobenzene and hexachlorobutadiene from underneath the property. Because this liquid is so heavy, it has a tendency to sink when it enters ground water. An investigation, which may lead to an expansion of the current extraction system, is ongoing and should be completed in 2013. This work is being done by Detrex Corp., one of the companies responsible for the site’s contamination.
More than 18,000 gallons of liquid have been removed, however, the extraction wells have had some problems over the years. Due to local geological conditions, very fine clay particles clog up the sand pack around the well screens and taint the processing equipment which can cause vacuum short- circuiting. When the sand packs clog up, the vacuum finds its way to the surface through small cracks in the soil. Six wells were recently installed by Detrex to see if newly refined techniques such as dual-phase extraction, which lowers the ground water level at the same time vacuum is applied, can solve the problems.
EPA also oversaw work done by Detrex, in 2011 and 2012, which involved a small area in a nearby tributary. Contaminated sediment was removed from the tributary downstream from Detrex immediately west of State Road. After removing this sediment, Detrex lined the inside of the culvert with concrete and lined the tributary channel with stone and gravel. This was permanently set in place with concrete grout underlain by French drains to catch any remaining oily liquids west of State Road. All storm water from Detrex is currently collected and treated before being released under permit directly to Fields Brook. The company is not currently discharging to the tributary and has not done so for several decades.
Contamination found during monitoring in the part of Fields Brook that runs between Millennium and the Detrex Corp. facility was cleaned up by the Fields Brook Action Group (several companies responsible for the contamination) in 2009. This cleanup involved removing more than 24,000 tons of contaminated soil and re-routing and isolating Fields Brook from potentially contaminated floodplain soil.
The cleanup and re-routing were done to prevent recontamination of downstream areas of Fields Brook and the nearby Ashtabula River. The river was cleaned up separately in 2008 under the Great Lakes Legacy Act. Fields Brook flows into the Ashtabula River and eventually into Lake Erie.
Work in the State Road area of Fields Brook was completed in 2009 in conjunction with Ashtabula County’s reconstruction of the State Road Bridge over Fields Brook.
Cleanup at six other areas has been completed:
- Conrail in 1998
- Millennium Inorganic Chemicals TiC14 Facility in 1999
- Acme Scrap Iron and Metals/South Sewers in 2000
- North Sewers in 2000
- RMI Metals in 2001
- The Floodplain and Sediment in Fields Brook in 2002
A status review of the cleanup to date was completed in June 2009. The Superfund law requires regular reviews of sites (at least every five years) -- where the cleanup is complete or where cleanup has been ongoing for at least five years -- but hazardous waste remains managed on-site. These reviews are done to ensure that the cleanup continues to protect people and the environment. In particular, EPA looked at the Fields Brook channel and floodplain cleanup.
The review included:
- An evaluation of background information
- Cleanup requirements
- Effectiveness of the cleanup and any anticipated future actions
This was the second five-year review (PDF) (182 pp, 14.37MB) for Fields Brook. The next review will be done in 2014.
News Releases
- EPA orders cleanup of new PCB contamination found at Fields Brook Superfund Site, News Release October 23, 2007
- Contamination release found at Fields Brook Superfund site, August 2, 2005
Fact Sheets
- U.S. EPA Evaluates On-Site Treatment Proposal for Additional Contamination Found Last Fall (PDF) (160K) May 2001
- Substantial Progress Made in Industrial Cleanups; Additional Contamination Found in Brook & Floodplain (PDF) (167K) November 2000
- Majority of Cleanup Work to be Finished This Year (PDF) (179K), March 2000
- Project Update: Millenium Soil Cleanup Completed (PDF) (106K), December 1999
- Project Update (PDF) (212K) July 1999
- Project Update (PDF) (61K) November 1998
- Proposed Plan Summary: Fields Brook Superfund Site Source Control Operable Unit (PDF) (414K) July 1997
- Proposed Plan for Remedial Action: Fields Brook Superfund Site Floodplain/Wetland Area (PDF) (153K) November 1996
- Questions and Answers: Fields Brook Superfund Site Information Availability Session and Public Meeting, September 26, 1996 (PDF) (220K) November 1996
- Proposed Plan Summary: Fields Brook Superfund Site Floodplain/Wetland Area (PDF) (58K) November 1996
Technical Documents
- Explanation of significant differences(PDF) (30pp, 1.4MB) September 2009
- Action memorandum(PDF)(15pp, 621K)October 2007
- Explanation of significant differences(PDF) (31pp, 1.2MB) August 2001
- Explanation of significant differences(PDF)(34pp, 2MB) April 1999
- Explanation of significant differences(PDF)(17pp, 967K) August 1997
- Record of Decision(PDF)(73pp, 2.8MB) September 1997
- Record of Decision(PDF)(137pp, 5.7MB) June 1997
- Record of Decision (PDF)(128pp, 6.3MB)September 1986
Five-Year Reviews
- Second five-year review (PDF) (182 pp, 14.37MB) June 2009
- First five-year review (PDF) (211pp, 5.4MB) June 2004
Legal Agreements
- Administrative Order : Docket No. V-W-08-C-883 (PDF) (16pp, 650K) October 2007