Title
Cabot - Koppers Superfund Site Update (B)
This item is a request for the City Commission to hear two presentations on the status of the Cabot - Koppers Superfund Site from Scott Miller, Remedial Project Manager, United States Environmental Protection Agency, and Mitchell Brourman, Project Manager for Beazer East, Inc. **ESTIMATED PRESENTATIONS 30 MINUTES.**
Explanation
The Cabot- Koppers Superfund Site includes two properties: Cabot Carbon and the former Koppers property. The Cabot site is approximately 50 acres and includes the area where a charcoal production facility operated from 1945 to 1965. A shopping center, a car dealership, and other businesses are operating on the site today. The Koppers site includes the area where a wood treatment facility operated from 1916 to 2009. This site covers 90 acres to the west of Cabot Carbon. In March 2010, Beazer East, Inc. purchased the Koppers site to facilitate Superfund Remediation. This presentation will focus on the Koppers portion of the Superfund site (see Attachment A - map that identifies the entire Superfund site).
In 1984, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) placed the Cabot - Koppers Superfund Site on their National Priorities List. USEPA has been responsible for directing investigations and clean-up activities by Beazer East, Inc., the party responsible for the Koppers site.
In 1990, USEPA issued a clean-up plan (Record of Decision, or ROD) for the site, which was partially implemented by Beazer East, Inc. However, source remediation was not completed due to the discovery that the extent of the contamination in the source area and the ground water had not been adequately assessed.
In 2011, USEPA issued a second clean-up plan (ROD) for the site. The plan finalized the clean-up activities for the Koppers site and revised the requirements of the 1990 ROD. A consent decree was executed in federal court on July 9, 2013, requiring Beazer East, Inc. to complete Koppers site related Superfund remedial design and action. The remedial actions and deadlines contained in the consent decree began on July 9, 2013 and now are being tracked by the USEPA.
Offsite remediation in the Stephen Foster Neighborhood and at several properties south of the former wood preserve site began in February 2014. Beazer East, Inc. remediated 100 parcels west and south of the site. Clean-up of the properties to remove the dioxin contaminated soil was completed in November 2014.
On November 20, 2014, the City of Gainesville and Beazer East, Inc. executed a settlement agreement for the City’s costs associated with ensuring that a selected remedy would adequately protect the City's primary drinking water source. The City Commission agreed to use the settlement funds for water and road improvements in the Stephen Foster Neighborhood. Water and road improvements are anticipated to start in January 2016.
The Beazer East, Inc. pre-design report for the In-Situ Geochemical Stabilization (ISGS) Remediation for the Koppers Site has been approved by USEPA after comments from Alachua County, GRU, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The ISGS treatment involves underground injections of the ISGS reagent to treat and stabilize the creosote material in the surficial and upper Hawthorn formation at the site. This technology is being used at two of the four creosote contaminated areas of the site; another technology known as “solidification” will be used at the other two areas. Beazer is also developing plans for the other portions of the cleanup, including an underground barrier wall and cap.
USEPA and the Local Intergovernmental Team (LIT), which includes City, County, Florida Department of Health, and community representatives, will continue to monitor the progress and effectiveness and provide technical comment on the ISGS treatment and other components of the cleanup plan. There are also additional investigations ongoing at the Cabot site. Cabot will be installing a Floridan Aquifer monitoring well at the site and will be developing plans for additional remediation on the Cabot site.
The USEPA would like to provide the City Commission with the latest updates on the cleanup at the site as well as answer any questions the Commissioners may have about the project.
Fiscal Note
There are some ongoing City expenditures associated with monitoring the cleanup of the site, including staff and consultants’ review of the data. Beazer East, Inc., the responsible party, is liable for the clean-up of the Koppers portion of the site. Cabot Corporation is liable for the financial expenditures associated with clean-up of the Cabot portion of the site.
Recommendation
The City Commission hear presentations on the status of the Cabot - Koppers Superfund Site from Scott Miller, USEPA Remedial Manager, and from Mitchell Brourman, Beazer East Project Manager.