BROWN WOOD PRESERVING SUPERFUND SITELive Oak, FloridaU.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Lisa Moore

Daniel Stern

SITE INTRODUCTION

Located 2 miles west of Live Oak city in Florida

1948 to 1978 – wood preserving pressure treatment facility using two treatment cylinders

Products used mainly creosote and water

Brown Wood Site

Waste water from the treatment cylinders was fed into oil/water separator

Creosote moved to storage tanks and the water treated and drained into a nearby lagoon

SITE INTRODUCTION

Pressure Treatment Cylinders

Treated Lumber is Dried and Stored

CONTAMINATION PROBLEM

Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (FDER) sampled the site in July 1982.

Contaminated with polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed

the site on the National Priorities list in December 1982 Six PAHs were considered high risk. EPA issued administrative order in September 1983. In April 1988 a ROD was signed which established a

clean goal of 100 mg/kg or less of Total Carcinogenic Indicator Chemicals (TCIC) within two years.

INTERIM REMOVAL ACTIVITIES

Interim removal activities were carried out between December 1987 and March 1988 including:

- Removal and treatment of 200,000 gallons of lagoon water

- Excavation, treatment and disposal of 15,000 tons of highly contaminated sludge and soil at an Emelle, Alabama, landfill.

- Sampling, analysis and stockpiling of contaminated soil for land treatment.

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

No action On-site incineration Off-site incineration Land treatment Treatment of sludge and off-site disposal of wastes Treatment and disposal of sludge's and land treatment

of soils Biological treatment of sludge’s using sequenced batch

reactors followed by land treatment of sludge and soil

LAND TREATMENT AREA

LTA

Pond

Lagoon

Stockpile

The option of land treatment of soils was selected

LTA was constructed including a retention pond and an irrigation and drainage system

Vegetation and structures cleared from four acres of ground

Contaminated soil was excavated and stored in a stockpile area

TREATMENT ACTIVITIES

LTA construction completed in October 1988 The site was divided into eight equal subplots The contaminated stockpiled soil was

transported in three lifts The first lift began in January 1989 and was

3,300 yds3 of soil, which was irrigated and fertilized

Twice a week the soil was inoculated with PAH degrading micro organisms

Inoculums were developed in on-site reactors, then sprayed onto the soil using the irrigation system

TREATMENT ACTIVITIES

A soil moisture content of 10% was maintained Samples were collected to monitor the soils TCICs

concentration The first level was treated until the concentration fell

below the required level (100 mg/kg) The the second lift of soil (3,000 yd3) was distributed in

September 1989 Final lift (1,800 yd3) was then spread and treated,

resulting in a total quantity of around 8,100 yd3

SUMMARY

This case is one of the earliest applications of land treatment at a superfund site contaminated with creosote compounds.

The total cost for the treatment of 8,100 cubic yards of soil was approximately $565, 400, corresponding to a cost of $70 per cubic yard of soil.

The cleanup goal of 100 mg/kg TCIC was met after 18 months.