Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
BELMONT COUNTY
ST. CLAIRSVILLE

Congressional District # 18

BUCKEYE RECLAMATION

EPA ID# OHD980509657
Last Updated: September, 2006

Site Description

The Buckeye Reclamation Landfill (BRL) site is located in St. Clairsville, Belmont County, Ohio, near the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. The BRL site is located on 658 acres of land of which approximately 50 acres was used for landfilling activities. The landfilling area is situated in a drainage ravine and is bordered by Kings Run stream on the east and another stream (unnamed) on the west. Prior to the 1950's, the BRL site and the land to the west of the site was used to dispose of coal mine refuse that was generated by the deep mining operations on the 658 acres. Between 1971 and 1979, the BRL site operated as a sanitary landfill and accepted municipal commercial waste for disposal. Industrial wastes, including sludges and liquids, were also accepted at the site between 1976 and 1979. It is estimated that the BRL site accepted a total of 4.7 million gallons of industrial liquid wastes and 3,300 tons of industrial solid wastes during the years it operated. Approximately 120 residents and forty residential wells are located within a one-mile radius of the BRL site. Potentially responsible parties (PRPs) that have been identified at the BRL site include former operators Cravat Coal (owner) and Belmont County; transporter Kittle Hauling; and generators Consolidation Coal, Ashland Chemical, Aristech Chemical, Beazer East, Inc., Triangle Wire and Cable, Inc., SKF Industries, and U.S. Steel Corporation.

Site Responsibility

This site is being addressed through federal, state, and potentially responsible parties' actions.  EPA is the lead agency overseeing the potentially responsible parties' implementation of the remedy with support by the State of Ohio through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA).

Threats and Contaminants

Leachate, groundwater, and soil in the vicinity of the site contain elevated levels of heavy metals, low levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and low levels of volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, trichloroethene, carbon tetrachloride, and toluene. 

Cleanup Progress

A Record of Decision (ROD) signed in August 1991 selected a remedial action (RA) for the site that included construction of a solid waste landfill cap, installation of a gas extraction system, leachate and groundwater collection and possible treatment, and groundwater and surface water monitoring. In 1992, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) entered into an Administrative Order on Consent with a number of PRPs to design the selected RA. After reviewing a proposal from the PRPs for a revised version of the remedy, U.S. EPA issued an Explanation of Significant Differences in July 1997. The revised remedy may result in a cost savings of approximately $23,000,000. The remedial design for Phase 1 of the remedy, which included all components except for design of the leachate and groundwater treatment system, was completed and the Consent Decree between U.S. EPA and the PRPs for completion of the RA at the site was entered by the court on March 17, 1998. Physical construction of the remedy began in May, 1999.  Phase 1 RA construction was completed in September 2001.  The major components of the Phase 1 RA were the construction of a solid waste landfill cap, elimination of the Northern Impoundment, realignment and lining of Kings Run, and the installation of a groundwater/leachate collection system. 

After one year of monitoring groundwater/leachate volume and quantity, additional collection and treatment system components, if determined necessary, will be designed and constructed under Phase 2 of the RA. Based on the monitoring results, no additional treatment of the leachate will be required prior to being discharged to Little McMahon Creek. An ESD was issued in 2003 that provided: 1. flow from Kings Run be combined with landfill leachate collection and discharged to Little McMahon Creek, 2. update of the discharge standards that will apply to he discharge to Little McMahon Creek, 3. monitoring of the combined flow will occur monthly for two years, and additional measures taken as required, and 4. no additional groundwater/leachate collection mechanisms are required.

A five-year review was issued early in 2004 which determined that the remedy was protective of human health and the environment in the short term because it was constructed as required by the ROD and Explanation of Significant Differences.  However to remain protective in the long term, the results of a two-year monthly surface water monitoring in Kings Run must continue to meet OEPA discharge standards and if necessary, the need for leachate treatment will be evaluated.

 

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
colleen moynihan (moynihan.colleen@epa.gov)
(312) 353-8196

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

Aliases

BUCKEYE LANDFILL
BELMONT CO LDFL

 

Site Profile Information

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