United States
                  Environmental Protection
                  Agency
                             Solid Waste and
                             Emergency Response
                             (5502G)
EPA 520-F-93-007
    Spring 1993
vvEPA
Superfund At Work
Hazardous Waste Cleanup Efforts Nationwide
  Site Description:
  Abandoned dump located in a
  wooded area, with nearby wetlands
  Site Size: 2 acres
  Primary Contaminants:
  Volatile organic compounds
  CVOC^ hwtfwolftg ethyl benzene
  fndi«oftjej»e;,*ie»Vy mietals; and
  pQl^hi^naw^l eljshenyjs fPCts)
  Potential Range of Health
  Risks: Incased incidence of
  cancer as a result of direct contact
  with contaminated ground water  .
  Nearby Population Affected:
  30Q people,, within one mile
  Ecological Concerns:
  Damage to wetlands
  Year Listed oil NPL: 1983
  EPA Region: III
  State: Oel«w*re
  Congressional District:  21
       Drums Removed at Harvey and Knott Drum Site
                                     Off-Site
                                    Approved
                                     Facility
           Success In Brief

           Cleanup Nearly Complete at

           Harvey and Knott Site

             From 1963 to 1969, two acres of the Harvey and Knott Drum site in
           New Castle County, Delaware served as an open dump and burning
           area for sanitary, municipal, and industrial wastes. Sludge, paint
           pigment, and solvents contaminated the site until the State of Dela-
           ware and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intervened
           in 1981. Site conditions required a combination of traditional cleanup
           measures. After the immediate health threats posed by the site were
           eliminated, EPA reached an innovative, "mixed funding" settlement
           for long-term cleanup with two parties responsible for the site con-
           tamination. The following actions highlight the success of the
           Superfund program:
           • An emergency removal of contaminants reduced immediate envi-
             ronmental and public health effects;
           • A rapid assessment of ground water safeguarded drinking water
             supplies; and
           • The full cooperation of General Motors (GM) expedited implemen-
             tation of the cleanup, valued at $3.2 million.

                                     The Site Today
                                        Site cleanup is near completion.
                                     In 1982 and 1984, EPA re-packed
                                     and disposed of hundreds of
                                     drums containing hazardous
                                     waste, many of them leaking.
                                     Following a period of negotiations,
                                     GM, the major responsible party,
                                     removed the remaining drums and
                                     other waste in 1988. GM is design-
                                     ing a cleanup plan for excavating
                                     contaminated sludge and covering
                                     "hot spot" areas with soil caps.
                                     The excavation and  soil cap work
                                     will begin in May 1993. The design
                                     for surface water and ground
                                     water monitoring will be imple-
                                     mented in early 1993.

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               Superfund At Work •  Harvey and Knott Drum, Inc., New Castle, DE  •  Spring 1993
  The two-acre Harvey and
Knott Drum site is located in
New Castle County, Delaware,
one-half mile east of the Mary-
land-Delaware border. The
    Harvey and Knott Drum
    New Castle County,
    Delaware
former disposal area is set back
several hundred feet from the
main highway, in an open
field. Woodlands surround the
site and wetlands are located
to the south. Trailer homes and
 A Site Snapshot

a residential development lie
approximately 1,400 feet to the
north. About 300 people live
within a one-mile radius.
  Between 1963 and 1969,
Harvey and Knott Trucking, Inc.
operated an open dump and
burning area on the site, accept-
ing sanitary, municipal, and
industrial wastes containing
sludge, paint pigments, and
solvents. General Motors (GM)
and the Chrysler Corporation
were among the major contribu-
tors of wastes to the site. Around
1977, Harvey and Knott Truck-
ing, Inc. split off into two busi-
nesses — Harvey & Harvey,
Inc., and Knotts, Inc.
  Some wastes were emptied
onto the ground or into exca-
vated trenches or left in drums,
some of which were buried.
Other wastes were either burned
or, if liquid, allowed to seep into
the soil. As a result of these
negligent dumping practices,
ground water was contami-
nated with volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) such as
ethyl benzene and toluene, and
with heavy metals including
arsenic, cadmium, and lead.
Soil and sediments contained

 Fortunately, no adverse
  ecological effects on
 nearby wetlands or local
    wildlife have been
        observed
the same contaminants, as well
as polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs). Some of these chemi-
cals are known or suspected
carcinogens.
  Fortunately, no adverse
ecological effects on nearby
wetlands or local wildlife have
been observed as a result of
past disposal activities.
    Harvey and  Knott Drum
    Site Timeline
                                                   •'*<]
      Improper disposal of hazardous wastes
                                                   
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                  Superfund At Work •  Harvey and Knott Drum, Inc., New Castle, DE  •  Spring 1993
 EPA's Immediate Actions Reduce Volume of Wastes
  While conducting routine
aerial surveys in January 1981,
Maryland state environmental
officials discovered an area of
dying vegetation and empty
drums around the Harvey and
Knott site. A Delaware state
team, sent to investigate the
area, found an uncontrolled
hazardous waste site and noti-
fied EPA.
  A year before, Congress had
enacted legislation creating the
Superfund program, with a
primary aim of cleaning up the
nation's most dangerous haz-
ardous waste sites. Whenever
possible, EPA locates those
responsible for the site contami-
nation and tries to negotiate the
use of private resources for
cleanup.

Findings of Contamination
Lead to Cleanup
  EPA sampled the soil and
ground water around the site in
November 1981, and discovered
VOCs and heavy metal contami-
nation. In June 1982, EPA fenced
the site to prevent public expo-
sure to site contaminants, col-
lected and analyzed more ground
water and soil samples, and
separated, packaged, and trans-
ported 43 drums containing 2,000

      This revised plan
    significantly reduced
   cleanup costs from an
   estimated $9 million to
        $3.2 million

gallons of solvents to an off-site,
licensed facility. In September
1983, the site was placed on the
National Priorities List (NPL),
EPA's roster of hazardous waste
sites eligible for cleanup under
Superfund.
  In March 1984, EPA removed
the most hazardous waste on
the site to a  licensed disposal
facility. Two hundred drums of
wastes were safely separated,
152 drums containing 1,925
gallons of waste were removed,
and an additional 500 empty
drums were tested, crushed, and
temporarily stored until they
could be removed.
   In September 1985, EPA se-
lected its long-term remedy for the
site, which included: cleaning an
on-site drainage pond and remov-
ing the remaining surface debris
(including drums and contami-
nated sludge). A ground water
extraction and treatment system
was recommended to remove
contaminants from the shallow
ground water and soil. After
cleanup the site would be graded
and covered with a soil cap.
   In 1987, EPA reached a coop-
erative agreement with GM and
the cleanup efforts continued.
Between 1988 and 1990, GM
excavated and removed 955
cubic yards of soil and 105 waste
drums to an off-site, licensed
disposal facility.
   Soil and ground water sam-
pling after the removal showed
that site contamination was
limited to specific areas. VOCs
were present in five monitoring
wells, and lead contamination
was confined to "hot spots."
   Based on this new informa-
tion, EPA eliminated the ground
water treatment system from its
original cleanup design, deciding
instead to cap the soil in the "hot
spot" areas, and continue selec-
tive monitoring elsewhere to
ensure cleanup standards. This
revision significantly reduced
cleanup costs from an estimated
$9 million to $3.2 million.
                                          Page 3

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                  Superfund At Work •  Harvey and Knott Drum, Inc., New Castle, DE •  Spring 1993
First Mixed Funding Settlement
  EPA successfully negotiated     What Is Mixed Funding?
agreements with two parties
responsible for contamination —
GM and Harvey & Harvey, Inc.
— to pay for the cleanup at the
Harvey and Knott Drum site.
  GM is performing most of the
  Mixed funding is a settlement
strategy used to encourage parties
to reach an agreement with EPA
to clean up contaminated sites.
  Under mixed funding, EPA
settles with fewer than all of the
cleanup work under EPA's first     responsible parties for a substan-
mixed funding agreement, signed   tial portion of the cleanup. The
in September 1987. Under a        remainder of the costs or work
preauthorization agreement, GM    can be contributed by EPA, or
is required to perform the         obtained from financially viable
cleanup and then seek reimburse-   parties who are not part of the
ment from the non-settling         mixed funding settlement.
parties. If unsuccessful in obtain-    Preauthorization is one type of
ing reimbursement, GM can
submit a claim to EPA for up to
one-third of its costs.
  In March 1988, Harvey &
Harvey, Inc. agreed to pay a one-
time fee of $350,000 plus interest,
toward past and future cleanup
costs. EPA is currently suing the
two non-settling parties —
Chrysler Corporation and Knotts,   cleanup.
mixed funding; the other two are
mixed work and cash out.
  Mixed funding provides an
incentive for cooperative parties
to settle, and avoids time-consum-
ing and resource-intensive litiga-
tion. It also provides for advance
financing by the responsible
parties, thereby expediting
    Success at

   Harvey and

        Knott

  EPA and GM have re-
moved the major sources of
contamination and reduced
immediate health concerns at
the site.
  After assessing on-site
contaminants, EPA was
flexible in re-designing its
cleanup approach, substan-
tially reducing construction
expenses.
   In the Superfund
program's first application of
a mixed funding settlement,
EPA successfully reached an
agreement with cooperating
parties to conduct long-term
cleanup. Work at this site
should be completed in 1994.
uu_. — iui reimuurseHieiii or past
cleanup costs.
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on this bulletin's content, length or format,
please call (703) 603-8984, or send a letter to
Superfund At Work (5502G); 401 M Street SW; Washington, DC 20460

For additional copies of this or other Superfund At Work updates, contact the National Technical Information Service,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161 , (703) 487-4650.

     EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
5502G
Washington, D.C. 20460

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