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RICE COUNTY
FARIBAULT
Congressional District # 02
NUTTING TRUCK & CASTER CO.
EPA ID# MND006154017Last Updated: December, 2007
Site Description
The Nutting Company was formerly located at 1221 Division Street in the city of Faribault, Rice County, Minnesota. Between 1891 and 1984, Nutting manufactured and distributed casters, wheels, hand trucks, and towline trucks at its Faribault plant. The present Nutting Truck and Castor site is an 10-acre site within the city of Fairbault (population of 21,000). Beginning in 1959, the facility disposed of waste materials in a seepage pit in the northwest corner of the site. The wastes included demolition debris, paint sludge, coolant oil, degreaser sludge, paint stripper, plating waste, and rags with paint and xylol. In response to a 1979 Notice of Noncompliance by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Nutting excavated the seepage pit, backfilled it with clean fill, and capped the area.
The city of Faribault operated five municipal wells, the nearest of which is located about one-half mile downgradient and north of the Nutting property. In October and November 1982, well water analyses indicated that all five of the municipal wells were contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,2-dichloroethylene (DCE), a degradation product of TCE. Further investigations by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the MPCA concluded that the source of contamination in the wells did not appear to be related to the TCE plume migrating from the Nutting site.
From 1979 to 1983, Nutting installed six monitoring wells near the site. Analytical results indicated that the groundwater beneath the former seepage pit was contaminated with cadmium, lead, cyanide, methylene chloride, TCE, and xylene. TCE was also detected in wells that were upgradient of the site and at the boundary of the site.
In 1983, the state issued a request for response action (RFRA) to the Nutting Company, as a potentially responsible party (PRP). On April 26, 1984, the MPCA and Nutting signed a consent order to conduct a remedial investigation (RI) at the site. An RI is a study into the nature and extent of contamination at the site. Due to the groundwater contamination, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) placed the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 8, 1983, making it eligible for investigation and cleanup under the Superfund program.
The Nutting Company owners sold the company in 1984. The company was reconstituted as Faultless Nutting, and is currently operating in Watertown, South Dakota. The owners now lease the site property under Prairie Avenue Leasing Ltd. for commercial and light industrial purposes.
Site Responsibility
This state enforcement deferral pilot site is being addressed through state and Potentially Responsible Party actions.Threats and Contaminants
The RI groundwater data detected DCE and TCE, at concentrations as high as 570 parts-per-billion (ppb), in the shallow groundwater downgradient of the former seepage pit. TCE has been consistently detected at levels below 35 ppb in the deeper aquifer monitoring well that is immediately downgradient of the former seepage pit. TCE was not detected in the three monitoring wells north of the site which tap the same deeper aquifer.
Soil sampling was also performed to determine whether non-foundry wastes were disposed of in the former surface depression on the site. The samples showed that the contamination was limited to surface soils and was probably the result of spillage during drum handling.
TCE is the main contaminant of concern at the site. There is a pending MDH Health Risk Limit (HRL) of five ppb for TCE, which is considered the concentration in groundwater that can safely be consumed on a daily basis over a lifetime. The MPCA policy is to use HRLs to evaluate health impacts from environmental contamination. The federal Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for TCE, used in the regulation of public water supplies, is also five ppb.
Cleanup Progress
The environmental data collected during the RI and previous investigations was insufficient to definitively link the city of Fairbault municipal water supply contamination to the contamination at the Nutting site. Pursuant to a second RFRA and consent order, signed by Nutting and the MPCA on September 22, 1987, Nutting was required to perform the remedial action at the site according to the specifications described in the remedial action plan (RAP).
In 1992, Nutting constructed a groundwater extraction well system to prevent the migration of contaminated groundwater to the downgradient drinking water aquifer. The RAP required Nutting to: 1) operate the system until a cleanup level of 50 ppb for TCE was consistently achieved in the groundwater at the Nutting property boundary and, 2) monitor the groundwater to assess the effectiveness of the system. Since 1987, Nutting has sampled eight monitoring wells (including the two extraction wells), the catch basin, and the outfall area discharging to Crocker's Creek, on a semiannual basis.
Five-year reviews were completed in 1994, 1998, and 2003. The reviews indicated a gradual decrease of contaminant levels in the groundwater. Further, the groundwater extraction system has effectively contained the plume. Existing wells at the property boundary currently meet the cleanup goal of 50 ppb, although one onsite well near the source area exhibited TCE levels above this goal as per the 2003 review. The groundwater extraction with long-term monitoring has protected human health and the environment. The May 2003 five-year review found that the remedy was protective of human health and the environment in the short term, and that long term protectiveness will be achieved when groundwater standards are met.
Since the 2003 review, a close out plan was developed to establish criteria under which the groundwater extraction system can be shut down. A long-term monitoring plan was developed to assess the downgradient water quality after the two extraction wells were turned off. In 2004, the extraction wells were shut down and the plume was shown to be stable based on monitoring data collected twice per year. The last groundwater samples were collected in May 2007. Contaminant levels have continued to decline since 2003, with the highest TCE level of 16 ppb found in the monitoring well located in the former disposal pit area. A close out report and certificate of remedy completion were prepared.
The MPCA has targeted this site for deletion from its Permanent List of Priorities. MPCA is working with U.S. EPA to determine and implement the appropriate Institutional Controls at the site to restrict groundwater use. All residences and businesses in the area are on the Faribault municipal water supply. The MPCA, in consultation with U.S. EPA, is preparing the fourth five-year review which is due in May 2008.
Property Reuse
The northwest corner acre of the property has always been occupied by two residences fronting Division Street. The adjacent two acres of property fronting Division Street were sold by the Nutting owners. These parcels are currently occupied by Marathon Multimedia company and a self-storage operation. The current site property consists of eight acres and is now operated under Prairie Avenue Leasing by the original Nutting owners. The main tenant on the property is JBJ Manufacturing, a welding and machine shop. The former disposal area of the site has been excavated to residential soil cleanup goals, backfilled and capped. This area is currently used as a loading dock, and the remainder of the former gravel pit area is largely paved and used for parking.Contacts
Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPAsheila sullivan (sullivan.sheila@epa.gov)
(312) 886-5251
Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
dave novak
(312) 886-7478
Aliases
NUTTING TRUCK & CASTER CO