Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
CLARK COUNTY
TREMONT CITY

Congressional District # 07

TREMONT CITY BARREL FILL SITE

EPA ID# OHD980612188
Last Updated: March, 2009

Site Description

The Tremont City Barrel Fill Site is located about 1.5 miles west of Tremont City, Ohio and about 3.5 miles northwest of Springfield, Ohio. The Barrel Fill Site includes 8.5 acres and is located on the northwest end of the larger 80-acre Tremont City property, which also includes a landfill and waste transfer facility.  The Site includes the Barrel Fill and any nearby area or media, such as groundwater, contaminated from the Barrel Fill.  The approximate 58-acre Tremont City landfill is immediately south of the Barrel Fill and waste transfer facility.  The waste transfer facility is a 14-acre parcel immediately east of the Barrel Fill. 

In 1976, Ohio EPA permitted the disposal of containerized and uncontainerized liquid waste in the Barrel Fill.  From 1976 to 1979, about 51,500 drums and about 300,000 gallons of industrial waste were disposed of in the waste cells. Land application and shallow injection of liquid biodegradable wastes from the food industry occurred on a portion of the Barrel Fill between 1979 and 1980. In 1980, a soil cover was placed over the Barrel Fill and augmented in subsequent years, resulting in a soil cover thickness of 10 to 17 feet over the waste cells.

In approximately 1997, U.S. EPA took over responsibilities from Ohio EPA as the lead regulatory Agency for the former Tremont City Barrel Fill Site.

 

Site Responsibility

U.S. EPA has successfully negotiated with parties whom EPA has determined may be legally responsible for the Tremont City Barrel Fill Site's contamination (potentially responsible parties (PRPs)) for the PRPs to perform a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) at the Site.  An RI is a study to define the nature and extent of contamination at the Site.  An FS is an evaluation of site cleanup alternatives. 

 

Threats and Contaminants

In 2002, a U.S. EPA contractor completed a Site Investigation of the former Tremont City Barrel Fill, landfill and waste transfer facility properties.  The Site Investigation Summary showed that inorganic and organic contaminant releases from wastes at the Site are continuing to impact media, including groundwater and soil.  A number of detected concentrations exceeded background for soil and U.S. EPA maximum contaminant levels for groundwater.

Cleanup Progress

In October 2002, U.S. EPA negotiated an Administrative Order by Consent (a legal agreement) with PRPs for the PRPs to perform an RI/FS at the Tremont City Barrel Fill Site and to reimburse U.S. EPA for its oversight costs. 

In November 2006, U.S. EPA approved the PRPs' RI Report for the Tremont City Barrel Fill Site. The RI showed that the underground waste and drums include a wide variety of contaminants. There are volatile and semi-volatile organic chemicals (VOC and SVOC) and metals levels above screening values in the groundwater. Sediment sampling results exceed ecological screening criteria.

The 2006 RI Report for the Tremont City Barrel Fill Site showed that there is a reasonably anticipated, unacceptable risk to site maintenance workers and trespassers from potential exposure to future groundwater to surface water discharge.

In November 2008, U.S. EPA, in consultation with Ohio EPA, issued an approval with modifications letter in 2008 for the PRPs' July 2008 FS for the Tremont City Barrel Fill Site.  In January 2009, the PRPs issued an FS Addendum that included variations of the excavation alternatives and an additional containment alternative involving vertical extraction wells.  U.S. EPA is currently reviewing the FS Addendum.  U.S. EPA will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) for this site in 2009, documenting the selected cleanup action for the site.  Before U.S. EPA issues the ROD, we will conduct a public meeting to present the proposed cleanup action, and consider comments on the proposed cleanup action from the public and other entities.

Community Involvement

U.S. EPA meets periodically with the Community Advisory Group, the Citizens for Wise Approaches Toward Environmental Resources (CF/WATER), to update the group on Site cleanup progress.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
ronald murawski (murawski.ronald@epa.gov)
(312) 886-2940