News Release from EPA

Sauer Dump Added to EPA Superfund List

PHILADELPHIA (March 13, 2012) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it added the Sauer Dump in Dundalk, Md. to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).

The NPL is a national list of sites where hazardous contaminants could impact public health and/or the environment. NPL sites undergo a thorough investigation to determine the full nature and extent of contamination. EPA or the parties responsible for the contamination then address whatever risks the sites pose to human health and the environment.

The approximately 2.5-acre site, located adjacent to and behind Lynhurst Road, is being added to the NPL because the soil and sediment at the site contain high concentrations of semi-volatile organic compounds, metals, PCBs and pesticides. PCBs and lead are the primary contaminants of concern due to their extreme concentrations.

The partially wooded property is an inactive, privately-owned, unpermitted, former dump. The property was originally a marshland that was filled and stabilized by a past owner. During dump operations from the 1960s through the 1980s, hazardous substances were improperly stored and disposed of on the property.

            The Sauer Dump site is one of nine sites nationwide that EPA is adding to the NPL today. EPA is also proposing 10 other sites to the list today.

      For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for this and other sites, visit: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm

For information about how a site is listed on the NPL, visit: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl_hrs.htm                          

News Release from EPA Region 2

EPA Adds Eighteen Mile Creek in Niagara County, N.Y.

to the Superfund List

Contacts: Mike Basile, (716) 551-4410, basile.michael@epa.gov or Elias Rodriguez, 212-637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y. – March 13, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it has added the Eighteen Mile Creek site in Niagara County, New York to the Superfund National Priorities List of the country’s most hazardous waste sites. Sediment in some areas of the creek is contaminated with harmful chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals and dioxin, which can have serious effects on people’s health, wildlife and the environment.

“Contamination in the Eighteen Mile Creek is dangerous to the health of people who eat fish from the creek and to the environment,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “Adding the Eighteen Mile Creek site to the Superfund list will allow the EPA to do the extensive sampling needed to find the best ways to address the contamination and protect people’s health.”

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, in consultation with EPA, previously investigated four former industrial areas in Lockport, New York, known collectively as the Eighteen Mile Creek Corridor site. The site covers the Flintkote Plant site, United Paperboard Company, Upson Park and the White Transportation property. NYSDEC identified six additional areas within the Eighteen Mile Creek watershed where cleanup activities are also needed. The earlier investigations and sampling of sediment in and around Eighteen Mile Creek confirmed the presence of PCBs, mercury, lead, copper, pesticides and dioxin throughout most of the creek. Specific sources of the contamination have not been definitively identified. EPA’s further investigation into the nature and extent of the contamination in and around Eighteen Mile Creek is expected to begin this summer.

Eighteen Mile Creek flows north for approximately 15 miles and discharges into Lake Ontario at Olcott, New York. The creek has a history of industrial use dating back to the 19^th Century when it was used as a source of hydroelectric power. Possible sources of contamination include stormwater discharges and sewage from municipal pipes, pollution from hazardous waste sites or contaminated properties and industrial and municipal waste discharges.

The land within the Eighteen Mile Creek watershed consists primarily of agricultural lands, with residential, commercial and industrial areas located around Lockport, Newfane and Olcott Harbor. There are several wetlands along the contaminated portion of the creek, and people fish in the Eighteen Mile Creek Corridor and other portions of the creek. Fisherman’s Park, a public fishing area located within Eighteen Mile Creek just downstream of Burt Dam, is a major fishing destination.

Nationwide, EPA is proposing to add 10 other sites to the Superfund list today and is designating nine others as final on the list. The EPA periodically proposes sites to the Superfund list and, after responding to public comments, designates them as final Superfund sites. The Superfund final designation makes them eligible for funds to conduct long-term cleanups. The Eighteen Mile Creek site is now designated as final on the Superfund list.

The EPA does an extensive search to identify and locate the parties potentially responsible for the contamination at all sites on the Superfund list. The agency requires responsible parties to pay for or perform the cleanup work with EPA oversight. The majority of Superfund cleanups are performed by or paid for by polluters. Taxpayer dollars are used to cover EPA cleanup costs when no responsible party can be identified.

For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/18milecreek.

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.

12-037                                                                  # # #

News Release from EPA Region 7 - Cedar Valley Electroplating

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

EPA Region 7 Orders Cedar Valley Electroplating in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Take Immediate Action to Address Hazardous Wastes

Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, whitley.christopher@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., March 9, 2012) - EPA Region 7 is ordering Cedar Valley Electroplating L.L.C., a metal electroplating business, to take a series of immediate actions to address multiple issues with leaking tanks and containers of hazardous waste at its facility in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Under a unilateral administrative order issued by EPA in Kansas City, Kan., Cedar Valley Electroplating – and R Squared Properties, L.L.C., which owns the property at 5611 Westminster Drive in Cedar Falls where the business is located – are ordered to: 

• Immediately comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and its implementing regulations.
• Immediately identify and contain any leaking tanks, containers or other vessels on the property.
• Identify all solid and hazardous wastes currently being treated, stored or disposed at the facility.
• Restrict access to solid and hazardous wastes that have been stored and/or disposed at the facility and to areas on the property where hazardous material has been released.
• Develop a plan for the immediate cleanup of releases, an investigation to determine if wastes have migrated off the property, and the cleanup of the building and any surrounding areas that may have been contaminated by the releases. 

Cedar Valley Electroplating is located in an industrial park area of southwest Cedar Falls, approximately 700 feet southeast of a child care facility, approximately 1,000 feet east of a stream, and approximately 1,300 feet east and southwest of the nearest residences.

EPA’s order notes that the business, which ceased operating in 2011, was inspected by EPA representatives in September 2005 and again in September 2010. The 2005 inspection resulted in the business being cited for failure to make a hazardous waste determination on 28 55-gallon containers of waste material. The 2010 inspection cited those same issues, and issues with additional containers.

EPA representatives visited the facility again last week and noted numerous totes, tanks, drums and other containers and materials stored in an unsafe manner throughout the facility, including numerous containers that were open and several that were leaking. Some of the hazardous wastes identified during the limited visit included chromium, ferric sulfate, ferric chloride, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide. During the visit, an EPA representative noted that the containers of chemicals cited in the 2005 and 2010 inspections were still present at the facility, but that some of the containers had since deteriorated to the point of leaking their contents.

Violations of EPA’s order could subject the respondents to civil penalties of at least $7,500 per violation per day. Violations could also trigger unilateral actions by EPA to carry out the terms of the order, under its legal authority. The Agency could also seek judicial enforcement of the order.

# # #