|
 |
|
| |
Site Type: Long Term/National Priorities List (NPL)  |
W. R. GRACE & CO., INC.(ACTON PLANT) |
 | Click here for interactive map
Get an interactive map |
|
| Acton; Concord, Massachusetts |
Middlesex County
| Street Address: | 50 INDEPENDENCE RD |
| Zip Code: | 01720 |
Congressional
District(s): |
05 |
| EPA ID #: | MAD001002252 |
| Site ID #: | 0100350 |
| Site Aliases: | Acton Plant, WR Grace
|
|
| Site Responsibility: | Federal, State, Potentially Responsible Parties |
| NPL LISTING HISTORY |
| Proposed Date | 12/30/1982 |
| Final Date | 09/08/1983 |
|
Site Description
The W. R. Grace (Acton Plant) Superfund site is located in the towns of Acton and Concord, Massachusetts and is accessible via Independence Road. The W.R. Grace property is comprised of approximately 260 acres of land that includes several surface water bodies and various wetlands. The Site is bounded to the north in part by Fort Pond Brook and to the east and south by the Assabet River. Residential properties border the Grace site to the northeast, northwest, east and west and several Industrial properties border the site to the south and northeast. Industrial parks and a gravel pit border the site to the south and residential housing borders the site to the west and northeast.
The site had been the former location of the American Cyanamid Company and the Dewey & Almy Chemical Company. These companies produced sealant products for rubber containers, latex products, plasticizers, resins, and other products. W. R. Grace purchased the properties and operations from American Cyanamid and Dewey & Almy in 1954. The Grace operations at the W. R. Grace facility included the production of materials used to make concrete, container sealing compounds, latex products and paper and plastic battery separators. Effluent wastes from the manufacturing process were disposed of into several unlined lagoons (the Primary Lagoon, Secondary Lagoon, North Lagoon, and Emergency Lagoon), and solid and hazardous wastes were buried in or placed onto an on-site industrial landfill and several other disposal areas. These other waste sites included the Battery Separator Lagoons, the Battery Separator Chip Pile, the Boiler Lagoon, and the Tank Car Area. In addition, the by-products of some chemical processes were also disposed of in the Blowdown Pit. All discharges to the unlined pits were ceased by W.R Grace in 1980.
Since 1973, residents in South Acton have filed complaints about periodic odors and irritants in the air around the W. R. Grace plant. Sampling of Assabet l & ll by the Town of Acton in 1978 indicated that these two municipal wells contained detectable concentrations of 1,1-dichloroethene or vinylidine chloride (1,1 DCE or VDC). As a result of these findings, the Town of Acton took the precautionary measure of temporarily closing the two wells. As part of an agreement and settlement between W.R. Grace and the Town of Acton, The Acton Water District (AWD), installed, operates and maintains air stripper units which removes any volatile organic compounds that may be present in groundwater pumped from Assabet 1, Assabet 2, Scribner, Lawsbrook and Christofferson public drinking water supply well. Prior to distributing water to the public, the AWD routinely treats and samples the water they provide to their users to ensure that all safe drinking water quality standards are met.
Threats and Contaminants
Groundwater is contaminated with Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) including 1,1,DCE, benzene and vinyl chloride and inorganics/metals including arsenic, iron and manganese, The hazardous soils and sludges in the former waste disposal areas were contaminated primarily with arsenic and VOCs, including vinyl chloride, ethyl benzene, benzene, 1,1-dichlorethylene, and bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate. Cleanup and remediation of the soils and sludge disposal areas were completed in 1997. Approximately 173,000 cubic yards of contaminated materials were removed, treated with and properly disposed of. Work on a Remedial Investigation, human health and ecological risk assessment and Feasibility study began in 1998 and were finalized on July 1, 2005. The purpose of these documents is the following: determine the nature and extent of groundwater, surface water and sediment contamination, determine if and where there are unacceptable human health or ecological risks and determine how to reduce unacceptable risks to acceptable levels. On September 30, 2005, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for Operable Unit Three (OU3). A ROD documents the following: areas of the site needing clean up, protective clean up levels, clean up method(s) and related costs. This last phase of clean up actions will remediate contaminated sediments in Sinking Pond and the North Lagoon Wetland, and will involve the design and construction of an approximately 200 gallon per minute groundwater extraction, treatment and discharge system. Treatment processes for extracted groundwater will include air stripping, activated carbon (air & odor treatment), and metals precipitation.
Cleanup Approach
The site is being addressed in four stages: Interim Actions and three long-term operable unit (OU) remedial phases which focus on aquifer restoration:
(OU 1), soil removal and remediation, landfill and lagoon closures
(OU 2), residual soil contamination
(OU 3), on-site and off-site groundwater, surface water, sediments and wetlands.
OU 1 & OU 2 activities have been completed. OU 3 activities are currently ongoing
Response Action Status
| Initial Action | The parties potentially responsible for site contamination removed hazardous storage tanks from the site in 1982 and 1983. |
| Aquifer Restoration | The responsible party have installed and operated an Aquifer Restoration System (ARS). This system pumps contaminated groundwater and then removes VOC contaminants via air stripping/volatilization. The ARS has been in operation since 1985 in an attempt to mitigate the discharge of contaminated groundwater to Assabet Wells #1 & 2, the Assabet River, Fort Pond Brook and various other water bodies. Supplemental engineering studies began in late 1998 to evaluate the effectiveness and capture zones of the ARS, determine the complete nature extent and extent of groundwater contamination. If necessary, modifications will be made to upgrade the current groundwater treatment facility or possibly expand and/or modify the recovery well locations to be more effective. |
| Operable Unit One - Landfill and Lagoon Closure | EPA's 1991 Clean Up Plan recommended the following: excavating and transporting for off-site incineration the highly contaminated material from the Blowdown Pit; excavating and stabilizing the material in the Blowdown Pit, the Primary Lagoon, Secondary Lagoon, North Lagoon, and Emergency Lagoon by mixing it with cement, lime, and fly ash to form a solid; excavating the soils from the Battery Separator Lagoons, Boiler Lagoon, and Tank Car area; placing both the stabilized and non-stabilized materials excavated from the site in the existing industrial landfill and covering these materials with a cap to prevent surface water or rain water from coming into contact with the buried contaminants; closing the Chip Pile area; modifying the Aquifer Restoration System to address emission controls; and extensive monitoring activities in each area. The design for this remedy (OU 1 & 2) was conducted in phases and completed in 1993. Remediation and construction was completed in June 1997. Just over 170,000 cubic yards of contaminated materials were removed and properly disposed of. |
| Groundwater Treatment | Since 1985 W.R. Grace has maintained and operated a groundwater pump and treatment system which removes volatile organic compounds from groundwater. To date the ARS has pumped over 4.1 billion gallons of groundwater and removed approximately 6,100 pounds of total VOCs. The responsible party has completed a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study and human health & ecological risk assessment for on and off site groundwater, surface water and sediments to determine the nature, extent, levels and threats of hazardous contaminants. Currently W. R Grace is designing a new groundwater extraction, treatment and discharge system. It is expected that the new treatment system will be constructed and operational by spring of 2011. See Operable Unit Three below for more information. |
| Operable Unit Three | The September 30, 2005, final Record of Decision for the W.R. Grace (Acton Plant) Superfund site calls for the following:
- Cleanup of contaminated sediments and soils posing an unacceptable risk to human health and/or the environment in both Sinking Pond and the North Lagoon Wetlands.
- Targeted extraction and treatment of groundwater contamination from the Northeast Area. Extraction and treatment of groundwater contamination in the Southeast & Southwest Landfill Areas. Construction of an approximately 200 gallon per minute groundwater pump and treatment system. Treatment processes for the extracted groundwater will include air stripping, activated carbon (air treatment), and inorganics (metals) removal. Treated effluent discharge is expected to occur at Sinking Pond, however a portion of treated effluent from the Northeast Area be discharged back into the aquifer in the Northeast Area.
- Monitored natural attenuation in areas of groundwater contamination not captured by the extraction system.
- Institutional controls to prevent unacceptable exposures to contaminated groundwater until cleanup levels are met, and to protect against unacceptable future exposures to any wastes left covered/capped on-Site.
- Long-term groundwater, surface water, and sediment monitoring and periodic five-year reviews of the remedy.
In August of 2006, EPA, MassDEP and W.R. Grace negotiated a settlement agreement known as a Remedial Design/Remedial Action Statement of Work. This settlement agreement was worth approximately $18 millions and requires W. R. Grace to implement and fund the clean up actions. The Remedial Design phase, including numerous pre-design studies, is currently underway. After the Remedial Design phase is completed in 2010, the final Remedial Action phase will begin. |
Environmental Progress
Removing the storage tanks, contaminated sludges and soils, and operating the existing aquifer restoration system have greatly reduced the potential for unacceptable exposures to hazardous substances, thus making the W. R. Grace site safer while the final clean up remedial design additional cleanup activities and subsurface investigations are underway. By September of 1997 over 173,000 cubic yards of contaminated materials were excavated, treated on-site by thermal treatment & solidification. Some of these highly contaminated materials were shipped offsite, for proper disposal. After the on-site contaminated materials were thermally treated and solidified, the inert material was then placed beneath an impermeable cap, in the on-site Industrial Landfill. To date, the current Aquifer Restoration System (ARS) has removed approximately 573 gallons of total VOCs and pumped and treated over 4.5 million gallons of groundwater. On September 30, 2005, EPA issued the Record of Decision for the final phase of clean up for sediments and groundwater for the W.R. Grace site. In August of 2006, EPA, MassDEP and W.R. Grace negotiated and finalized a settlement agreement known as a Remedial Design/Remedial Action Statement of Work. Currently W. R. Grace is in the process of completing the remedial design which include preparing engineering documents and technical specifications.
Current Site Status
OU 1 and OU 2 activities at the site were completed by September 1997. Activities included the removal, solidification/stabilization, and placement/capping of contaminated soils and sludges into an on-site landfill. A Draft Preliminary Reuse Assessment was completed in September 2004. The first Five Year Review (a review of the protectiveness of the clean up) was completed for the site in September 1999 and a Second Five Year Review was completed in September 2004. The results from both Five Year Reviews were consistent with each other and determined that the clean up for OU l currently protects human health & the environment. A groundwater recovery and air stripping tower (the ARS) is currently operating at the site and its effectiveness was evaluated as part of the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for OU 3. The responsible party has completed the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study and human health & baseline ecological risk assessment for on-site and off-site groundwater contamination, under EPA and MassDEP oversight. Based on the results of these extensive investigations, EPA prepared and released a Proposed Clean-up Plan to the public in July 2005. EPA then held an informational public meeting in July 2005 and a public hearing in August of 2005, at the Acton Town Hall to answer questions and receive public feedback on EPA's 2005 Proposed Clean Up Plan. After careful and extensive review of all public comments, EPA prepared and issued the Record of Decision for the W.R. Grace site on September 30, 2005. The text of this September 2005 ROD is available to view via a link from the below section entitled: "Decision Documents." In August of 2006, EPA, MassDEP and W.R. Grace negotiated a settlement agreement known as a Remedial Design/Remedial Action Statement of Work. As required by the RD/RA Statement of Work, W. R. Grace submitted the first remedial design report in December of 2006. Once the remedial designs/engineering designs are completed, on-site construction of the remedies will begin. According to the most recent schedule, Grace is expected to complete the remedial design by spring of 2010.
Site Photos
- (See Photograph Links Below)
Links to Other Site Information
Maps and Photos:
Newsletters & Press Releases:
Federal Register Notices:
Administrative Records:
Reports and Studies:
Phase 1 Remedial Investigation Work Plan, May 14, 1999 (2,581KB)  | | |
| Five Year Review Report, September 29, 1999 (785KB) | | |
| Response to July 13, 1999 Government Party Comments on Phase 1 Remedial Investigation Work Plan, November 12, 1999 (2,037KB)
| | |
| Addendum to the Phase 1 Remedial Investigation Work Plan, January 14, 2000 (1,806KB)
| | |
| Second Five Year Review Report, September 28, 2004 (7,139KB) | | |
| Proposed Plan for OU 03, July 2005 (2.6MB) | | |
| Public Meeting Presentation on W R Grace (Acton Plant), Operable Unit 3, Proposed Cleanup Plan, July 19, 2005 (1.8MB) | | |
| Remedial Design/Remedial Action Statement of Work, OU03, August 30, 2006 (3.5 MB) | | |
| Fact Sheet July 2009, (1.03 MB) | | |
| Third Five Year Review Report, September 23, 2009 (4.8 MB) | | |
| | |
Decision Documents:
Other Links:
Site Repositories
Acton Public Library, 486 Main Street, Acton, MA 01720
EPA New England Records Center, One Congress Street, Boston, MA 02114 (617) 918-1440
Contacts
| EPA Remedial Project Manager: | Derrick Golden |
| Address: | |
| Phone #: | (617) 918-1448 |
| E-Mail Address: | golden.derrick@epa.gov |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| EPA Community Involvement Coordinator: | Sarah White |
| Address: | |
| Phone #: | (617) 918-1026 |
| E-Mail Address: | white.sarah@epa.gov |
| |
| State Agency Contact: | Ms. Jennifer McWeeney |
| Address: | MADEP
One Winter Street
Boston, MA 02108 |
| Phone #: | (617) 654-6560 |
| E-Mail Address: | Mcweeney.Jennifer@state.ma.us> |
| |
| |
|