Reach JK, Pollution Report 6

Tittabawassee River Dioxin-Reach D
Midland , MI - EPA Region V
POLREP #6 - 9/21/2007

On-Scene Coordinator - James Augustyn/Brian Schlieger

Site Description

On June 27, 2007, U.S. EPA ordered The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) to negotiate an Administrative Order on Consent, to address removal of extremely elevated levels of dioxin-contaminated soil from an eroding river bank within Reach JK of the Tittabawasse River near Midland, Michigan. Dow agreed to the terms of the Order and on July 12, 2007, the Order was signed by the Regional Administrator and Dow. For additional background information please see the site profile.

Reach JK will be divided into two areas. The area along the river bank where contaminated soil will be excavated will be designated JK-1, and an area further back from the river bank where clean soil will be used to cap contaminated soil will be designated JK-2.

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 tasks are currently on going:

Installation of chain link security fence around the JK-2 wooded area.
The installation of an irrigation system to water vegetation planted as part of the Site Restoration Activities.
The importing and placement of topsoil in the JK-1 and non-wooded JK-2 areas.

To view a map that depicts current site progress, please visit the Document Section of this website and open the document titled "Site features map".

The following tasks have been completed by Dow's contractor during the period from September 13 - September 19, 2007:

Thursday, Sept. 13th: Dow's contractor excavated approximately 6,000 in-place cubic yards of soil from the JK-1 Cut 2 area along the shoreline, and relocated this soil to the non-wooded JK-2 area on site. The excavated JK-1 Cut 2 soil was used to cap impacted surface soils in the JK-2 area. Excavation activities started on September 12th, and were completed on September 13th. Additional site activities included the continued installation of the fence around the perimeter of the wooded JK-2 area and the completion of the rip rap along the shoreline on the south end of JK-1 area.
Friday, Sept. 14th: Post-removal surface soil samples were collected from the JK-1 Cut 2 area after soil was removed to the designed excavation depth. Surface soil samples were also collected from the non-wooded JK-2 area after the placement of soil from the JK-1 Cut 2 excavation activities. Additional site activities included the importing and placement of 6A stone along the JK-1 shoreline bench area, and the importing of topsoil.
Saturday, Sept. 15th - Sunday, 16th: No site activities conducted.
Monday, Sept. 17th: Dow's contractor activities included; the completion of the rip rap along the northern end of the JK-1 area, importing and placement of topsoil, and the continued installation of the fence around the JK-2 wooded area.
Tuesday, Sept. 18th: Dow's contractor continued the importing and placement of topsoil on site.
Wednesday, Sept. 19th: Dow's contractor continued importing and installing topsoil on the site. The placement of topsoil began along the JK-1 area. Based on the laboratory analytical results received from the surface samples collected at the non-wooded area of JK-2, additional topsoil will be used to increase the thickness of the topsoil cap from 6 inches to 24 inches on two sections of JK2 area. The turbidity curtain was removed from the Tittabawassee River and transported to the Salzburg Landfill for decontamination.

Planned Removal Actions

Planting of over 400 trees as part of the Site Restoration Activities.
The placement of grass seed in the recently installed topsoil areas.
Removal of silt fence around the perimeter of the site once the grass has begun to grow.

Next Steps

Monitor restoration activities

Disposition of Wastes

As of 9/19/07, Dow has removed and transported to the landfill approximately 23,562 in-place cubic yards of impacted soil from the Reach JK site. Approximately 24,000 in-place cubic yards of impacted soil was the estimated total volume to be removed. The following disposed waste was excavated from the JK-1 Cut #1 area:

8/17/2007 30 loads 540 in-place cubic yards
8/18/2007 64 loads 1,152 in-place cubic yards
8/21/2007 76 loads 1,368 in-place cubic yards
8/22/2007 93 loads 1,674 in-place cubic yards
8/23/2007 60 loads 1,080 in-place cubic yards
8/24/2007 103 loads 1,854 in-place cubic yards
8/25/2007 20 loads 360 in-place cubic yards
8/27/2007 178 loads 3,204 in-place cubic yards
8/28/2007 148 loads 2,664 in-place cubic yards
8/29/2007 180 loads 3,240 in-place cubic yards
8/30/2007 199 loads 3,582 in-place cubic yards
8/31/2007 127 loads 2,286 in-place cubic yards
9/7/2007 31 loads 558 in-place cubic yards