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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Last week “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would begin the long-awaited clean-up of the former Carter Carburetor Superfund site on Grand Avenue in North St. Louis.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “This clean-up is absolutely critical because so many children are potentially at- risk across the street at the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club,” said U.S. Rep. “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO).
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “The neighborhood deserves a clean and safe environment to raise children, create new business opportunities and grow jobs.”
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Clay said he was
“mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;”>“especially pleased” that “the responsible parties will foot the entire $27 million bill.”
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “I am excited the EPA is going to move forward,” said Flint Fowler, executive director of the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “That building has sat vacant over 20 years. It’s an eyesore and prime target for vandalism. It sends the message the city and elected officials don’t have the best interests of the community at heart.”
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> According to the EPA Action Memorandum released last Wednesday, the agency plans a “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> thermally enhanced extraction of two toxins: “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> trichloroethylene (TCE), a chlorinated industrial solvent, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a cancer-causing chemical once used in electrical transformers that were disassembled at a building on the site.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> The EPA will remove PCBs and TCE from subsurface soils and remove PCBs in two on-site buildings.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> At the Above-Ground Storage Tank Area and Die Cast Area,
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> the contaminated soil will be heated, allowing for contaminants to be removed from the soil, collected and disposed of in an off-site facility.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> The Carter Building, Inc. (CBI) Building “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> will be remediated of asbestos-containing material, demolished and the building materials disposed of, based on PCB concentrations.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> At the Willco Building “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>, because PCB contamination is relatively low, a thorough cleaning may be sufficient, though the first- and second-floor slabs will be partially removed and replaced if needed.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “Cleaning up this highly contaminated site is my number one environmental priority in the city of St. Louis,” said
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Clay.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “I have been fighting to win this approval for years, and I want to thank President Obama and the leadership at EPA for acting decisively on my request.”
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> However, citizen activists raised concerns about the
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> In-Situ Thermal Desorption and Vapor Extraction (ISTD) technology that the EPA plans to use at the site. It would be performed by TerraTherm, a spinoff of Shell Oil.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “TerraTherm has not demonstrated that this technology can treat PCB contamination at this scale,” said Romona Taylor Williams, a member of the Carter Carburetor Citizens Advocacy Group.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> The Missouri Coalition for the Environment also raised concerns that the remediation might create new toxins.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “Because heating PCBs can lead to the formation of dioxins, the on-site heat-treatment plan is questionable,” said Kathleen Logan Smith, executive director of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> “PCBs are not very volatile, which adds to the uncertainty. This, coupled with a flawed risk assessment that okays a higher cancer risk for area children, suggests to us that ISTD won’t be a clean clean-up.”
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Logan Smith said ISTD has more potential for effectiveness on the TCE contamination because of the lower temperatures needed, the smaller extent of contamination, and the volatility of the material.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> She also said EPA testing at the site was insufficient because it was limited to four areas. She said testing should have had to prove that other areas on the site are not contaminated as well, since the contaminants involved “have some degree of mobility and pose significant health risks to the community.”
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> The citizen advocacy group is calling
“mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;”>for to cover all areas impacted by Carter Carburetor, the treatment technology to be proven to work on PCBs on similar sites and at similar concentrations before use at the St. Louis site, the risk assessment scenario expanded to include children of all ages and the cleanup plan protect the health of children and area residents.
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“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> An Administrative Record has been established for the Carter Carburetor Superfund Site and is available for review at Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>,
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> 2901 North Grand Ave. “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> and the “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> St. Louis Public Library, Divoll Branch “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>,
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> 4234 North Grand Ave. “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> If you have questions, contact
“mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;”>Jeffrey Weatherford at 636-326-4720 “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> or “font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>
“mailto:weatherford.jeffrey@epa.gov”>weatherford.jeffrey@epa.gov