Reach D, Pollution Report 8

Tittabawassee River Dioxin-Reach D
Midland, MI - EPA Region V
POLREP #8 - 9/12/2007
On-Scene Coordinators - James Augustyn and Brian Schlieger

Site Description

On July 9, 2007, Dow's contractor began positioning equipment on a work barge to begin the preparation of driving temporary sheet piling in the river to delineate the area of highest dioxin contamination. Dow's contractor has completed construction on the HDPE sediment transport pipeline and has conducted hydrostatic testing of the line. The sediment transport line is approximately 9,000 feet long and will transport sediment slurry from the dredge area in the river to the Geo-Tube dewatering cell.

On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) Jim Augustyn is providing oversight with assistance from U.S. EPA's START Contractor, Weston Solutions, Inc.

Current Activities

The following activities have been completed by Dow's contractors during the period of August 31st through Sept 12th, 2007. Routine tasks such as air monitoring, turbidity data collection from both upstream and downstream turbidity monitors, and 24-hour composite water sampling from the settling pond for total suspended solids (TSS) analysis are performed daily. Due to Labor Day Holiday, Dow contractors were inactive on Saturday Sept. 1st through Sept. 3rd, 2007. To view an aerial photo that depicts current site progress, please visit the Document Section of this website and open the document titled "Reach D Project Progress Figure".

Friday August 31st, Dow's contractors continued the setting and driving of the temporary turbidity barrier sheet piling downstream of the 30" water main located south of the downstream ‘railroad' bridge. Assembly of a third construction barge continued. Dow's contractors assembled flexible, floating dredge hose and began constructing an access road beneath the upstream ‘piping bridge'. Work activities at the containment cell included; test of odor suppression system, mechanical work, electrical and instrumentation checks, work on wooden walkway, signage, and dust and track-out control (as needed).
Tuesday Sept 4th, Dow's contractors continued the setting and driving of temporary turbidity barrier sheet piling and the building of an access road underneath the upstream ‘piping' bridge. Contractors repositioned the dredge within the enclosed turbidity barrier north of the upstream ‘piping ‘bridge along with connecting the floating dredge hose to the onshore HDPE sediment transport pipeline. Work activities at the containment cell continued.
Wednesday Sept 5th, continued setting and driving of the temporary turbidity barrier. Dredging operations within the enclosed turbidity barrier north of the upstream bridge began at approximately 1400 hours, but was later temporarily delayed due to a non- project related Plant health and safety incident in proximity to the containment cell. Work activities at the containment cell concentrated on Geo-Tube cell maintenance i.e. monitoring the filling of a Geo-Tube with sediment and dewatering activities, monitoring flocculent addition and infrastructural system performance.
Thursday Sept 6th, dredging operations continued within the enclosed turbidity barrier. The setting and driving of the temporary turbidity barrier south of the 30" water main and underneath the upstream ‘piping' bridge continued. Work activities at the containment cell continued including dredge line and booster pump operations.
Friday Sept 7th, dredging operations continued. Historic flume sheet piling was partially extracted from the southern potion of the turbidity barrier. The setting and driving of temporary sheet piling south of the 30" water main continued. Dow's contractors excavated rip-rap material from northernmost section of the enclosed turbidity barrier, and transported material to the Salzburg landfill. Dow collected the first 24-hour composite water sample from the settling pond for total suspended solids (TSS) analysis. During the first 24 hours of operation, Sump B discharged a total of 541,941.88 gallons of water to Dow's Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Saturday Sept 8th, dredging operations and rip-rap removal continued. Contractors completed the driving of temporary sheet piling underneath the upstream ‘piping' bridge. Work activities at the containment site continued with dredge line and booster pump operation. Contractors collected the second 24-hour composite sample for TSS analysis. During the last 24 hours of operation Sump B discharged a total of 647,763.75 gallons.
Monday Sept 10th, dredging operations and rip-rap removal continued. Turbidity barrier installation activities south of the 30" water main and removal of historic flume piling continued. Contractors installed the first permanent sheet piling wall panel beneath the ‘piping' bridge. Work activities at the containment site continued with dredge line and booster pump operation. Contractors collected the fourth 24-hour composite sample for TSS analysis. The third sample was collected on Sunday 9-9-07. The 24 hour discharge volume for 9/8/07 to 9/9/07 was 655,323 gallons. The discharge volume for 9/9/07 to 9/10/07 was 339,527 gallons.
Tuesday Sept 11th, dredging activities continued. Turbidity barrier installation activities and the driving of permanent sheet piling underneath the piping bridge continued. Work activities at the containment site continued. Contractors collected the fifth 24-hour composite sample for TSS analysis. The 24 hour discharge volume for 9/10/07 to 9/11/07 was 632,910 gallons.

Planned Removal Actions

Dow's contractors will continue removing historic flume sheet piling within the middle section of the removal area. Sheet piling will be driven down to established elevations to complete the installation of the middle section of the turbidity barrier between the 2 Dow bridges.
Installation of permanent sheet piling will continue along the RGIS System within the middle section of the removal area.

Next Steps

Dow's contractors will continue driving the temporary sheet piling turbidity barrier from the Dow bridges downstream to the Dow Dam to complete the removal area.

The installation of two sections of gunderboom 'Turbidity Curtain' over a 30" and 36" underwater pipeline to complete temporary turbidity barrier south of downstream ‘railroad bridge'.

Disposition of Wastes

To date, 239 pieces (average length 10 to 12 feet) of historic flume piling have been extracted from the Reach D area north of the 'piping' bridge. The flume piling will be decontaminated and processed for metal reclamation.

Waste consisted of Reach D rip-rap from the RGIS system. A total of 154 loads, estimated at 12 cubic yards per load total volume 1,849 estimated cubic yards

7-31-07, 34 loads
8-01-07, 35 loads
8-02-07, 39 loads
8-03-07, 24 loads
8-04-07, 11 loads
9-07-07, 04 loads
9-08-07, 07 loads

From 9-06-07 to 9-11-07 Reach D sediment dewatering activities have conveyed 2,817,468.63 gallons of water to Dow's waste water treatment plant (WWTP).