Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
CASS COUNTY
FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP

Congressional District # 08

AGATE LAKE SCRAPYARD

EPA ID# MND980898068
Last Updated: November, 2008

Site Description

The Agate Lake Scrap Yard site covers about eight acres on the eastern shore of Agate Lake in a rural area of Fairview Township. The area is used mostly for recreation and residential purposes. About 480 acres of public forest and adjacent wetland near the northwestern side of the site are used for hunting. Approximately 33 homes, a small resort, and a golf course are located across the lake from the site. The Agate Lake Scrap Yard operated from 1952 to 1982, as an industrial waste treatment facility. Two homemade furnaces were used to smelt aluminum, copper, and lead. Transformer oils and halogenated- solvents were used to fuel the furnace, and sometimes they were spilled onto the ground. There were three ash piles onsite and an open dump area north of a gully, containing bottles, cans, and other trash. The gully area slopes down toward a wetland area about 10 feet north. Junk automobiles were found at various locations on the site about 100 feet from Agate Lake. Lead batteries were observed in several places. Approximately 1,100 people reside within three miles of the site and depend on groundwater as a source of drinking water. 

Site Responsibility

This Deferral Pilot site was addressed through state and potentially responsible party (PRP) actions.

Threats and Contaminants

The groundwater was contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including trichloroethylene (TCE), benzene, toluene, and methylene chloride. The soil was contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, furans, and lead.  Monitoring shows groundwater contamination to be at levels below health based goals.

Cleanup Progress

The Site was listed on the Minnesota Permanent List of Priorities (NPL) in October 1984.  The Site was also listed on EPA's National Priorities List in June 1986.  In 1983, before the Site was listed on the NPL, the PRPs removed transformers containing oils and drums of waste solvents and liquids from the Site.  Two furnaces were also dismantled, and approximately 300 cubic yards of contaminated soil were excaveted from the main transformer storage area.  The removed topsoil was deposited in an onsite gully, indentified as a microbiological cell suggesting that biological degradation of PCBs and oil would occur.  Areas where soils had been removed were backfilled with six inches of clean topsoil, and then seeded with rye.

In September 1985, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) under a Multi-Site Cooperative Agreement with the Superfund Program, performed a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) at the Site.  Based on the data and analyses, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and MPCA recommended the following actions:  removing 260 tons of lead-contaminated ash, slag and soil; removing 200 tons of PCP-contaminated soil; removing three cubic yards of pipe insulation containing asbestos; regular groundwater monitoring at the Site; as well as a deed restriction that prohibits well installation in the area in which groundwater contamination has been found.

In September 1992 and May 1993, the MPCA issued Interim Response Actions (IRAs) to address all of the above actions with the exception of groundwater and and deed restrictions.  The PRPs agreed to pay for and perform this work.  The slag and ash pile work was completed by September 1992.  The PCB-and lead-contaminated soil work was completed by May 1993.  The cleanup levels applicable to the soils were 300 parts per million (ppm) of lead in the soil, and 1 ppm PCBs in the soil.  The slag and ash pile, as well as the soil contaminated with lead were placed in the Chimical Waste Management, Inc. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C Adams Center landfill in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they were stabilized to prevent leaching of lead.  The soils contanining PCBs above 50 ppm were disposed at a permitted Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) landfill in Grassy Mountain, Utah, while soil with PCBs below 50 ppm were disposed in an industrial landfill in Rosemount, Minnesota.  The asbestos was also disposed of at the facility in Rosemount, Minnesota.

A health risk advisory was issued to the residents, recommending that they do not use well water for drinking. Removal of garbage, iron, and other scrap was accomplished in July 1996. In 1986, the state issued a unilateral administrative order (UAO), compelling the potentially responsible party (PRP) to perform an investigation of the nature and extent of contamination and to identify alternative methods for cleanup.

In 1994, EPA concurred with Minnesota's selection of a remedy to clean up the groundwater via monitored natural attenuation.   Design was completed in early 1994, and four additional groundwater monitoring wells were installed. Ongoing monitoring shows groundwater contamination levels below health based goals.  EPA and MPCA initiated the delisting process based upon this fact.

This site was deleted from the NPL on August 1, 1997.  A prospective purchasers agreement for the purpose of reuse and development of this site has been completed.  There will not be any five-year reviews at this site, because no hazardous waste was left in place. 

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
Giang-Van Nguyen (nguyen.giang-van@epa.gov)
(312) 886-6726

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
cheryl allen
(312) 353-6196

Aliases

AGATE LAKE SCRAP YARD

 

Site Profile Information

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