| Abstract |
The GE Wiring Devices site is located in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. The General Electric Company (G.E.) owns and operates a five-acre wiring devices plant at this site, which assembled silent mercury switches from 1957 until 1969. Approximately half a ton of mercury was discarded along with 4,000 cu yds of defective switch parts and plastic scraps in an onsite waste-fill area about 1 acre in area and 1 to 4 feet deep. Ground water in the area is used as a source of drinking water with a public supply well located approximately 1,500 feet west of the waste-fill area. Evidence indicates that contamination of the water table is occurring due to the migration of perch water through the clay layer that exists beneath the waste-fill area. Approximately 1,500 cu yds of near-surface soil south and downgradient of the waste-fill area has been contaminated by mercury as a result of previous surface runoff from the plant area. The selected remedial action for this site includes: onsite hydrometallurgical treatment of the waste-fill materials, perched water, and contaminated near-surface soil with disposal of the treatment residue in the former waste-fill area, followed by covering with a clean soil cover, and onsite treatment of the process leaching agent. |
