Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
IONIA COUNTY
IONIA

Congressional District # 03

IONIA CITY LANDFILL

EPA ID# MID980794416
Last Updated: September, 2009

Site Description

The Ionia City Landfill is a closed 20-acre landfill in the city of Ionia, Ionia County, Michigan. The site is located in the flood plain of the Grand River and operated from the mid-1930s until it closed in 1968 or 1969. During operation mixed residential and industrial wastes, including drummed liquids and solids, were dumped and burned at the site. In 1981, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources confirmed the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in groundwater. Samples of drummed wastes revealed the presence of paint wastes and spent solvents. The Remedial Investigation, completed in 1989, identified a one-quarter-acre area in the northern portion of the site containing approximately 6,000 cubic yards of drummed wastes and contaminated soils. Approximately 6,000 people live within one mile of the site. 

Site Responsibility

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

Threats and Contaminants

Contaminants detected included methylene chloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethene, toluene, styrene, and lead. A plume of contaminated groundwater, containing high concentrations of vinyl chloride, methylene chloride, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, trichloroethene, and other VOCs, has been defined in the vicinity of the drum disposal area. Contaminated groundwater containing lower levels of VOCs extends to the Grand River which is located immediately south of the site and approximately one-third-mile from the area of buried drums. Analyses of surface water and sediment samples from the Grand River have shown no contamination; however, VOC contamination has been detected in a small intermittent stream that abuts the eastern boundary of the site. No drinking water supplies are impacted or threatened by groundwater contamination at the site. 

Cleanup Progress

In 1984, the city removed and disposed of exposed drums under the terms of a Unilateral Administrative Order. Following the issuance of a Record of Decision (ROD) in 1989, a Consent Decree was entered in 1990, whereby the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) would utilize in-situ vitrification to remediate the area of drummed wastes and contaminated soils in the northern portion of the site. Due to numerous delays, however, the remedy was never implemented. As a result of worsening groundwater conditions at the site, the PRPs removed approximately 7,000 cubic yards of bulk waste, drums, and contaminated soil in 1994 under the terms of a negotiated Consent Order. In 1995, a second Consent Order was negotiated under which the PRPs  implemented a groundwater pump and treatment system to contain the higher concentrations of VOCs in groundwater. This work was undertaken as a removal action. Construction of the extraction and treatment system was completed in November 1997 and is fully operational. The system will operate for an undetermined number of years until the plume has been fully captured and no longer poses a risk.

A second ROD was signed for the site on September 28, 2000.  The ROD calls for the continued operation of the groundwater pump and treatment system (air stripper) to capture and remove VOCs within the 500ug/L total VOC isopleth.  Long-term monitoring is also required for those contaminants outside the influence of the pump and treatment system. A Consent Decree to carry out the continued operation and maintenance of the pump and treatment system and long-term monitoring was signed by the PRPs on November 8, 2001.  A Vertical Aquifer Sampling Field Study was conducted during November and December 2002 to determine the extent and distribution of VOCs. In October 2003, the treatment portion of the pump and treatment system was shut down, because contaminant levels were below city of Ionia Waste Water Treatment Plant cleanup levels.

Based upon data collected over the past several years at the site, it appears that the full extent of the contaminant plume has been delineated and that monitored natural attenuation (MNA) is reducing some, if not all, of the remaining contamination. 

On September 29, 2008, an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) was signed for the site.  The ESD outlined a plan to shut off the groundwater pumping system which would assist in determining if MNA is naturally occurring at the site.  The plan is to monitor the site for approximately a year and to then see if the contaminant plume remains as it was when the pumping system was operable.  The ESD also outlined a change from the ROD relating to the Kanouse Drain.  Based upon studies conducted at the site it was determined that the Kanouse Drain was not connected to the aquifer at the site and that groundwater standards therefore did not apply to the Kanouse Drain.

The next step at the site is to evaluate the monitored natural attenuation of the contaminant plume with regard to the shutdown of the pumping system and determine if the plume is remaining stable and contaminant levels are decreasing within the site boundaries.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
demaree collier (collier.demaree@epa.gov)
(312) 886-0214

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

Aliases

IONIA CITY LDFL

 

Site Profile Information

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