|
 |
|
| |
Site Type: Long Term/National Priorities List (NPL)  |  |
LEEDS METAL | |
|
Map this site in Cleanups in My Community |
|
| Leeds, Maine |
Androscoggin County
| Street Address: | Blue Rock Road |
| Zip Code: | 04263 |
Congressional
District(s): |
02 |
| EPA ID #: | MEN000103584 |
| Site ID #: | 01FB |
| Site Aliases: |
|
|
| | |
| Site Responsibility: | Federal |
| NPL LISTING HISTORY |
| Proposed Date | 09/16/2011 |
| Final Date | 09/18/2012 |
|
Site Description
This 36-acre property, located in a mixed residential/industrial area in the southeastern Maine community of Leeds (population 2,126), is the location of a former scrap metal recovery facility which operated between 1969 and 1984. The property contains four large automobile fluff piles, former building foundations, scrap metal/debris scattered throughout the property, and elongated trenches that may be former lagoons. The Leeds Metal site is bounded to the north by a former concrete manufacturing facility, a sand and gravel operation, and by Blue Rock Road; to the east by the Rumford Branch of Pan Am Railways; to the south by wetlands and residential properties; and to the west by Route 106.
Operations at the Leeds Metal site date back to the mid-to late 1800s, however little is known about specific site activities prior to 1969, when the property was leased to National Metal Converters, Inc. for use as a scrap metal recovery facility. Between 1969 -1984 scrap metal recovery processes took place on site, performed by a series of site operators. Junk automobiles were brought to the site by independent contractors and truckers from all over Maine to be shredded on site in a hammer mill via an electromagnetic crane and then pulverized into fist-sized pieces. The recovered ferrous metals were shipped off-site for recycling via rail cars. The remaining material, known as auto fluff, containing non-ferrous metal, glass, plastic, fabric, foam, rubber and soil, was stockpiled on site. Gasoline and other fluids from junk cars were dumped directly onto the ground, and at one point as many as 100 drums were staged along the tree line in the southern part of the site. The Leeds Fire Department has responded to numerous fires at the site; the auto fluff piles have ignited and burned for hours, creating black clouds of smoke. The site is currently inactive and unoccupied, and appears to have remained abandoned since operations ceased in 1984.
Four waste pile sources with a combined volume of approximately 40,000 cubic yards of auto fluff waste are present at the Leeds Metal site. The waste piles are fully exposed and uncontained, lacking any features to control contaminant migration. A fifth source, the former Operations Area, encompasses approximately 14 acres of documented surface soil contamination. The site has no fence or other containment features designed to limit access or exposure to site wastes. Hazardous substances associated with the site source areas include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE), and metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead). In addition, a groundwater plume of VOCs is documented onsite and extending southward, impacting drinking water supply wells along Route 106 as far as 0.36 miles from the site. Seven drinking water supply wells near the site are contaminated with VOCs at concentrations exceeding health-based benchmarks.
Threats and Contaminants
Seven private drinking water supply wells located in proximity to the site and serving 17 residents have been impacted by VOCs (PCE and TCE) attributable to releases from the site at concentrations in excess of health-based benchmarks. There are no public drinking water supply wells in Leeds, Maine. In addition, wetlands on site have been impacted by metals contamination associated with the historical metals recovery operations on the property.
Cleanup Approach
Response Action Status
| Initial Action | An Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent with Maine Central Railroad Company, the owner of the property, became effective on October 15, 2012. The Order requires a security fence around the debris piles and former operations area, as well as removal of lead-contaminated soil in a former battery recycling area.
|
Environmental Progress
EPA finalized the addition of the site to the National Priorities List on September 18, 2012.
Current Site Status
EPA completed removal investigations in 2010 which documented significant contamination on site, impacts to nearby private drinking water supplies, and the need for response actions to address imminent hazards posed by the uncontrolled wastes on site. As a follow-up to EPA sampling of private drinking water supplies near the site which identified contaminants exceeding health-based benchmarks, the state installed carbon filtration devices at five homes with VOC contamination exceeding state health benchmarks. A removal action designed to limit access to on-site wastes is expected to begin this fall. An Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent with Maine Central Railroad Company, the owner of the property, became effective on October 15, 2012; the Order requires a security fence around the debris piles and former operations area, as well as removal of lead-contaminated soil in a former battery recycling area.
The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) has issued a draft Public Health Assessment for public comment. The public comment period runs from November 28, 2012 to January 28, 2013.
EPA, ATSDR, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (ME DEP) hosted an open house on December 12, 2012 at the Leeds Town Office.
Site Photos
Links to Other Site Information
Maps and Photos:
Newsletters & Press Releases:
Federal Register Notices:
Administrative Records:
Reports and Studies:
Settlement Documents:
Other Links:
Site Repositories
OSRR Records and Information Center, 1st Floor, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100 (HSC), Boston, MA 02109-3912 (617) 918-1440
Contacts
| EPA Remedial Project Manager: | Anni Loughlin |
| Address: | US Environmental Protection Agency
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Mail Code: OSRR07-1
Boston, MA 02109-3912 |
| Phone #: | 617-918-1273 |
| E-Mail Address: | loughlin.anni@epa.gov |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| EPA Community Involvement Coordinator: | Kate Renahan |
| Address: | US Environmental Protection Agency
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Mail Code: ORA01-1
Boston, MA 02109-3912 |
| Phone #: | 617-918-1491 |
| E-Mail Address: | renahan.kate@epa.gov |
| |
| State Agency Contact: | Brian Beneski |
| Address: | Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection
State House Station 17
Augusta, ME 04333-0017
|
| Phone #: | 207-287-4858 |
| E-Mail Address: | brian.beneski@maine.gov |
| |
| |
|