Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
MACOMB COUNTY
UTICA

Congressional District # 10

LIQUID DISPOSAL, INC.

EPA ID# MID067340711
Last Updated: March, 2009

Site Description

The seven-acre Liquid Disposal, Inc. (LDI) National Priorities List (NPL) site is located in Shelby Township in Macomb County, Michigan. LDI was a commercial liquid waste incineration facility which accepted wastes from major automobile manufacturers, chemical companies, and other industries around the state. Site facilities included an ash pit, scrubber and oil lagoons, surface and underground storage tanks, and an assortment of drums. Indiscriminate storage practices and spills led to soil and groundwater contamination with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and numerous heavy metals, including barium, cadmium, and lead. The site is bordered on two sides by wetlands and the Clinton River and on the south side by an auto junkyard. The Rochester-Utica State Recreational Area and the Shadbush Tract Nature Study Area are within one mile of the site. Approximately 54,000 people live within three miles of the site; an estimated 3,500 people rely on groundwater for household use. 

Site Responsibility

This site is being addressed through federal, state, and potentially responsible parties' actions.

Threats and Contaminants

Soil and groundwater are contaminated with VOCs, PCBs, PAHs, and numerous heavy metals, including barium, cadmium, and lead.

Cleanup Progress

Between 1982 and 1986, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources removed lagoon wastes, contaminated sediments, approximately two million gallons of liquid waste, 2,800 cubic yards of heavy metal sludge, and 200 drums from the site. Between 1987 and 1991, six settlements resolved the liability of hundreds of small generators. In 1992, 35 major potentially responsible parties (PRPs) signed a Consent Decree (CD) with U.S. EPA for final cleanup of the site.  The PRP group has completed the following work: 

• Solidification with concrete of a 20-foot wide swath of perimeter site soil and highly contaminated soil and debris on site;
• Construction of an underground slurry wall inside the 20-foot solidified swath around the perimeter of the site;
• Construction of a clay cap over the site;
• Installation of extraction wells inside the slurry wall and monitoring wells inside and outside the wall; and
• Soil replacement and revegetation of a wetlands and uplands area east of the site.

On September 4, 1997, U.S. EPA completed a final inspection at the site and determined that the PRPs had constructed the remedy in accordance with the Record of Decision (ROD) and Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD). On September 15, 1997, U.S. EPA documented in a Preliminary Close Out Report that all construction was completed at the site. The U.S. EPA has approved the final Operation and Maintenance (O & M) Plan and final Construction Completion Report.  A Five-year Review report was issued in 1998 and 2003.

The third Five-year Review was completed on September 26, 2008.  The assessment conducted as part of this review found that the remedy was constructed in accordance with the decision documents with the exception that the slurry wall was not completely keyed into the confining layer beneath the site.  Capping of the contaminated soils has removed the possibility of human contact with contamination, and access controls that restrict use of the land are in place.  The remedy included the establishment of a specific inward gradient from the extraction wells operating within the prescribed slurry wall; however, this inward hydraulic gradient has not yet been achieved.  Currently, two contaminants of concern exceed maximum contaminants levels (MCLs) in groundwater tested side-gradient and downgradient of the Site.  However, there are other contaminants, not included in the COC list at this time, that have also been detected in exceedance of the MCLs that require further evaluation.  A protectiveness determination of the remedy at the site is being deferred until further information is obtained; however, groundwater monitoring and cap maintenance is continuing.  Further information will be obtained by evaluating the impacts of the lack of an inward hydraulic gradient at the site, re-evaluating the current list of COCs, and evaluating the risks associated with the potential upgradient source identified at the site.  It is expected that these actions will take approximately one year to complete, at which time a protectiveness determination will be made. 

Community Involvement

U.S. EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator is Robert Paulson (312-886-0272).

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
linda kern (kern.linda@epa.gov)
(312) 886-7341

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
bob paulson
(312) 886-0272

Aliases

LDI
LIQUID WASTE DISPOSAL INC
LIQUID DISPOSAL INC

 

Site Profile Information

This profile provides you with information on EPA's cleanup progress at this Superfund site.