Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
ASHTABULA COUNTY
ROCK CREEK

Congressional District # 14

OLD MILL

EPA ID# OHD980510200
Last Updated: April, 2009

Site Description

The Old Mill (OM) site is located in the Village of Rock Creek, Ashtabula County, Ohio, and consists of two parcels of land referred to as the Henfield property (three acres) and the Kraus property (ten acres).  Land use in the vicinity of the site is a mixture of residential, agricultural, and commercial/industrial developments.  The site is in a rural village setting with the closest residences approximately 75 feet from the property boundary.  Approximately 2,000 people live within a two-mile radius of the site.

Site Responsibility

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

Threats and Contaminants

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and heavy metals including lead were in the soils near the silos on the Henfield Property and in the drum storage area of the Kraus Property.  Studies indicated that the soils were principally contaminated with the VOCs trichloroethene, dichloroethene, 1,1-dichloroethene, vinyl chloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, ethylbenzene, and xylene, with trichoroethylene as the principal contaminant. These threats were addressed as part of the cleanup activities performed at the site.  VOCs are contaminating the groundwater underneath the Henfield Property and the Kraus Property.  Potential health risks exist through accidental ingestion of or direct contact with the contaminated groundwater until ongoing treatment is complete.

Cleanup Progress

Response activity at the OM site began in 1979, before the site was listed on the National Priorities List, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency found 1,200 drums of toxic waste, including solvents, oils, resins, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), stored on the two  properties. Superfund emergency removal activities and enforcement action resulted in a drum removal that began in November 1981 and was completed in October 1982. Some of the Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs), who may have contributed to the contamination at the site, participated in removal activities by removing 580 of the drums. Under removal authorities, 80 cubic yards of contaminated soil was removed in November 1982 from a drum storage area of the Henfield property, and a fence was installed around a portion of the site in 1984.  Between August 1983 and December 1984, a Remedial Investigation (RI) was conducted at the site. In September 1983, notice letters were sent to approximately 30 PRPs giving notice of the RI and Feasibility Study (FS). On February 23, 1984, a CERCLA Section 106 Administrative Order was issued to a former operator of the site requiring the installation of a fence around hot spots containing hazardous substances. The former operator failed to comply with the order, and EPA installed the fence to limit public access to the site. On November 2, 1984, demand letters were sent to several PRPs outlining their liability for payment of all past response costs as well as any other costs arising from remedial activities at the site. Negotiations were held, but no acceptable offers of settlement were received. A Record of Decision was signed in August of 1985 to address the remaining contamination issues.  U.S. EPA conducted the Remedial Action at the site.

An extraction system was installed to recover contaminated groundwater from both the shallow and deep aquifers. An additional shallow aquifer intercepting trench was installed along with two monitoring wells in order to address a VOC plume that was extending beyond the original area of concern. A final inspection was held on August 18, 1989.  A punch list was developed, and final modifications were requested. Extracted groundwater is pumped to a treatment plant located on the southern edge of the Henfield property. The groundwater treatment system is specifically designed to remove existing concentrations of VOCs and semi-VOCs from groundwater via air stripping and carbon absorption.  Treated water is discharged by gravity flow to an underground water drain. The drain discharges to a surface water drainage ditch located near the southwest corner of the treatment building that ultimately flows to Rock Creek.  The Remedial Action Report was approved by U.S. EPA on April 24, 1991. 

U.S. EPA completed the first five-year review for the site on January 17, 1996. A second five-year review was completed on September 28, 2001.  A Consent Decree was entered into the court on March 27, 2002, under which the PRPs assumed O&M responsibilities at the site.  The third five-year review for the site was completed on September 28, 2006.  The review concluded that the remedy is protective of human health and the environment.  Institutional controls (ICs), as required by the ROD, are being evaluated as part of an IC study to assess their protectiveness at the site in the long term.   In addition to evaluating the ICs for the site, the review recommended to closely monitor future groundwater sampling results to evaluate whether an additional monitoring well should be required to monitor possible plume migration to the west.  

Contacts

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

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
susan pastor
(312) 353-1325

Aliases

KRAUSE DSPL SITE
ROCK CREEK JACK WEBB
WEBB MR

 

Site Profile Information

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