Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
MANITOWOC COUNTY
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP

Congressional District # 06

LEMBERGER TRANSPORT & RECYCLING

EPA ID# WID056247208
Last Updated: January, 2008

Site Description

The 16-acre Lemberger Transport and Recycling site, located in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, operated as an unlined landfill from 1970 to 1976. From 800,000 to one million gallons of tars and paint sludges were buried at the site. Heavy metals and phenols have leached into groundwater. Large quantities of aluminum dust are also buried on the site, as are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the cleanup of a spill. In 1976, the site was closed and covered with one foot of clay. Between 1976 and 1980, additional clay covering was added. The owner of the farms, adjoining the landfill, has plowed portions of the site, exposing bulk wastes and drums. In 1985, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) sampled residential wells in the area and found contamination. This site is located less than one-quarter mile away from the Lemberger Landfill which is also an United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) National Priorities List (NPL) site. Lemberger Transport and Recycling and Lemberger Landfill, Inc. operated under the same license. The Branch River, one-half mile west of the site, is used for swimming, fishing, and canoeing. Hunting occurs in the area, and site access is unrestricted. Approximately 2,700 individuals live within three miles of the site and obtain their potable water supply from a shallow aquifer. 

Site Responsibility

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

Threats and Contaminants

The groundwater, underlying the site, has been contaminated with various volatile organic compounds (VOCs): phenols and heavy metals, including lead, chromium, and aluminum. Soil contamination includes VOCs, semi-VOCs, pesticides, PCBs, and inorganic compounds. Potential health risks include ingesting or coming into direct contact with contaminated groundwater or soil. The nearby Branch River is used for swimming, fishing, and canoeing. 

Cleanup Progress

In 1987, U.S. EPA began an investigation to determine the nature and extent of contamination of the groundwater and to identify alternative long-term cleanup methods. A final groundwater remedy was selected in 1991, which includes groundwater extraction, treatment, and discharge into the Branch River; groundwater monitoring; and temporary groundwater-use restrictions. A group of potentially responsible parties (PRPs) entered into a consent decree (CD) with U.S. EPA for the groundwater cleanup; construction of the remedy was completed in September 1996. 

In 1991, U.S. EPA began additional studies that were designed to add to the data which was uncovered by the site investigation that had begun in 1987. In 1993, U.S. EPA and a group of PRPs entered into an administrative order on consent (AOC), requiring the parties to remove drums and construct a clay landfill cap. By spring 1994, 1,500 drums had been moved offsite. Treatability studies, completed in late 1994, determined that soil vapor extraction (SVE) and a clay landfill cap would be ineffective in addressing site contamination; therefore, the construction of a composite cap was selected as an alternative remedy.

Construction began in spring 1996 and was completed in October 1996.  A five-year review was conducted in September 2000 to assess the protectiveness of remedial actions at the site.  While the five-year review found that immediate threats had been addressed, it was identified that the groundwater extraction system was not capturing the entire contaminant plume.  In order to correct this problem, modifications to the groundwater extraction system were constructed in winter 2001. 

The groundwater modifications constructed in 2001 do not appear to have significantly improved the groundwater quality. After further analysis, the PRPs proposed a pilot study to temporarily shut down the groundwater extraction system and evaluate monitored natural attenuation as a possible alternate cleanup remedy. Monitored natural attenuation involves monitoring the progress of naturally occurring processes such as microbial biodegradation to clean up contamination in the groundwater.  On June 15, 2006, U.S. EPA and WDNR approved the PRP's workplan for the monitored natural attenuation pilot study and gave approval to shut down the pump and treat system.  The pump and treat system was shut down on August 1, 2006.  Local residents with a drinking water well were notified of the pilot study by letter.  An Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) was issued  in September 2006 by U.S. EPA to further document this change. 

 

 

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
richard boice (boice.richard@epa.gov)
(312) 886-4740

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

Aliases

TRANSPORT RECYCLING INC
LEMBERGER TRANSPORT & RECYCLING INC

 

Site Profile Information

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