| Abstract |
The 2-acre Chem-Central site is a bulk chemical storage facility in Wyoming, Kent County, Michigan. Land use in the area is a mixture of residential and commercial. An estimated 10,000 people live within 1 mile of the site and receive their water supply via the municipal distribution system. Two creeks, Cole Drain and Plaster Creek, lie in proximity to the site. Between 1957 and 1962, hazardous substances entered the ground as a result of faulty construction of a .T-arm pipe used to transfer liquid products from bulk storage tanks to small delivery trucks. Additional hazardous substances may have entered the ground through accidental spills. In 1977, a routine State biological survey of Plaster Creek identified a contaminated ditch containing oils with organic compounds including PCBs and metals that was discharging into Cole Drain. Between 1978 and 1986, the State and EPA focused their efforts on finding and eliminating the source of the ditch contamination through extensive investigations of area soil, ground water, and surface water. Results indicated that ground water and soil surrounding and north of the Chem-Central plant were contaminated with volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds. The Record of Decision (ROD) addresses a remedy for contaminated onsite soil, contaminated offsite soil surrounding and north of the plant, and then addresses a remedy for contaminated onsite soil, contaminated offsite soil surrounding and north of the plant, and the ground water contamination plume emanating from the plant and spreading 1,800 feet northward. The primary contaminants of concern affecting the soil and ground water are VOCs including PCE, TCE, and toluene; and other organics including PAHs and PCBs. The selected remedial action for this site includes installing an in-situ vapor extraction system for onsite soil and two offsite soil areas north of the property, using a network of horizontal piping, collecting contaminated vapors in the soil source area at the
vacuum pump, and treating these vapors using a vapor phase carbon adsorption system before discharge to the atmosphere. |
