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NPL Site Narrative for Petro-Processors of Louisiana Inc
PETRO-PROCESSORS OF LOUISIANA, INC.
Scotlandville, Louisiana
Federal Register Notice: September 21, 1984Conditions at listing (September 1983): The Petro-Processors of Louisiana, Inc., Site covers a total of about 55 acres near Scotlandville, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. It is comprised of two disposal areas on the banks of Bayou Baton Rouge in and/or near the floodplain of the Mississippi River. Although the two areas are about 1.5 miles apart, they both threaten the same surface waters and aquifer systems. Both areas were operated by the same management and equipment, and personnel were used interchangeably. The areas were operated concurrently from approximately 1969 until 1972. Generators in the area contracted with Petro-Processors for disposal of hazardous wastes, and the truck drivers took the wastes to the closest pit or the one with the most capacity at the time.
EPA filed suit against the owners and 10 waste generators in July 1980, alleging that toxic organic compounds and heavy metals had been released into local waterways, eventually finding their way to the Mississippi River, and were posing a threat to an underground drinking water supply.
The Scenic Highway disposal area is a pit in an area of permeable to semipermeable soils. Monitoring by EPA and the defendants detected a variety of organic chemicals in ground water outside the pit area. In addition, leachate is traveling through the banks of the bayou and rising to the surface of the closed pits. The U.S. Geological Survey has expressed concern that the area poses a serious threat to the "400 foot aquifer," a major aquifer in the area. The Scenic Highway disposal area was filled and closed around 1974. Liquid wastes were solidified, fill dirt added, a partial plastic cap installed, and a vegetative cover established. The primary problem is the potential for leachate migration and for exposure of toxic materials by erosion. About 3.5 million cubic feet of contaminated materials may be at the Scenic Highway area.
Brooklawn, the larger of the two areas, opened in the late 1960s. It did not completely cease operation until July 1980, when EPA filed suit. Brooklawn is believed to hold about 8 million cubic feet of contaminated materials. The area has three ponds--upper, lower, and cypress--and several disposal pits that have been covered. In June 1983, the cypress pond was inundated by the Mississippi River, and the floodwaters came within 4 inches of overtopping the lower pond. An old channel of the bayou runs through part of the area and may be a conduit for subsurface migration of wastes. Analysis of samples taken from downgradient wells reveals the presence of a separate phase containing up to 90 percent of various organic constituents.
Status (June 1984): On Feb. 16, 1984, a Federal judge approved a Consent Decree requiring the 10 generators to clean up the site. The cleanup must meet the substantive standards of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the defendants are responsible for perpetual maintenance. There is no monetary limit on the cleanup. The estimates for ultimate cost start at $50 million. In mid-May, the companies submitted a work plan for the remedial planning phase of the cleanup.
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.