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NPL Site Narrative for Berlin & Farro
BERLIN & FARRO
Swartz Creek, Michigan
Federal Register Notice: September 8, 1983Conditions at listing (July 1982): Berlin & Farro operated an incinerator for liquid industrial wastes in Swartz Creek, Michigan, from 1971 until 1980, when the company filed for bankruptcy. The 40-acre site was then placed in receivership. A landfill on the property was used for disposal of crushed and empty drums. In 1974, the company was ordered to close down because the incinerator, which had no emission controls, and an open lagoon on-site posed a health threat. After that, the State pursued administrative and legal actions to force cleanup, with little success. The site holds an estimated 10,000 buried drums, five buried tanks containing about 30,000 gallons of C-56 liquids (a pesticide by-product), and four lagoons containing approximately 11,000 cubic yards of contaminated sludges. Slocum Drain and Swartz Creek are contaminated with C-56. Emissions of C-56 into the air present a public health threat.
In May 1980, the Governor declared a toxic substance emergency at the site, and the State has since used $850,000 to remove and dispose of 15,300 cubic yards of sludges. In June 1980, EPA spent $96,000 in an emergency action to fence the site and excavate and dispose of contaminated soil and drums west of the lagoon area.
Status (July 1983): In July 1982, EPA awarded a $1,033,844 Cooperative Agreement to Michigan to (1) install a temporary cap over the lagoon area, (2) remove the underground storage tanks (both completed in the fourth quarter of 1982), (3) conduct a remedial investigation of hydrogeological conditions and the wastes present (scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 1983), and (4) a feasibility study to identify alternatives for remedial action at the site (scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 1984).
In the first quarter of 1983, the State removed an additional 15,000 cubic yards of sludge. A limited feasibility study is being conducted to identify alternatives for the landfill and other buried tanks, drums, and drain tiles. It is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 1983.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.