United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5502G)
EPA 520-F-94-005
Winter 1994
vvEPA Superfund At Work
Hazardous Waste Cleanup Efforts Nationwide
Seymour Recycling
Site Profile
Site Description:
A former chemical recycling, storage,
and Incineration facility near
Seymour, Indiana
Site Size: 14 acres
Primary Contaminants:
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
and heavy metals
Potential Range of Health Risks:
Increased risk of cancer through
drinking contaminated ground water
Nearby Population;
300 people within one mile
Ecological Concerns:
A shallow aquifer and ground water
are contaminated; fish kilis in the
White River
Year Listed on NPL: 1983
EPA Region: 5
State: Indiana
Congressional District: 9
Workers take water samples from a conduit to check treatment plant discharge.
Success in Brief
Model Superfund Cleanup
in Seymour, Indiana
Leaking barrels of chemicals reacted and erupted into spontaneous
fires and explosions at the Seymour Recycling Corporation in the 1970s.
This poorly managed and overburdened hazardous waste storage and
incineration facility polluted soil and ground water with solvents,
acids, and heavy metals. By 1980, more than 50,000 drums and storage
tanks stood on site, many of them rusted, punctured or leaking.
Using Superfund authority, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) negotiated voluntary cleanup agreements with waste
generators to clean up this Jackson County facility. With help from the
Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the
City of Seymour, cooperative efforts lead to an effective remediation of
the site, including:
an immediate removal of drums, tanks and soil;
a comprehensive ground water treatment system and extension of
the municipal water supply to affected residents; and
use of two innovative technologies, bioremediation and soil vapor
extraction, to treat contaminated materials under a multi-layer
protective cover.
Simultaneous construction activities, clear communication, and harmo-
nious resolution of legal issues were
key to beating the cleanup schedule
by more than two years.
The Site Today
All construction activities at the
site are complete. The site is fenced
and a protective "cap" encapsulates"
contaminated soil, dredged sedi-
ments, and debris. A vapor extrac-
tion system is currently removing
VOCs from underneath the cap, in
conjunction with bioremediation.
Precautionary air sampling contin-
ues to monitor any potential
releases from that system. Ground
water treatment will continue for 12
to 30 years.
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Superfund At Work Seymour Recycling Corporation Site, Jackson County, IN Winter 1994
The Seymour Recycling
Corporation is located on a 14-
acre site two miles southwest
of Seymour in Jackson County,
Indiana. Surrounding land
use is primarily agricultural
except for the Freeman Munici-
pal Airport and Industrial Park,
and a residential community
of about 100 homes located
within one mile of the site.
Drinking water for the airport,
industrial park, and subdivi-
sion was supplied by private
wells until 1985 when the
waste contributors paid for an
extension of the Seymour
municipal water system to
the area.
The company processed,
stored, and incinerated chemi-
cal waste throughout the
A Site Snapshot
1970s. Wastes accumulated in
drums, bulk storage tanks, and
tank trucks; by 1980,100 storage
tanks and 50,000 drums stood
on the site, many rusted, punc-
tured or leaking. Contaminants
spread over a wide area, releas-
ing toxic vapors and erupting in
small fires until the facility
finally closed in 1980.
Soil and ground water at the
site were contaminated with
volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and heavy metals,
including arsenic, manga-
nese, and beryllium. A
shallow aquifer was
'highly contaminated with
various hazardous chemi-
cals, and fish kills have
been reported in the
White River. Although
area residents have not been
directly exposed, VOCs and
heavy metals do not break
down easily, remain in the
environment for many years,
and require long-term
remediation.
Seymour Recycling site
Jackson County, Indiana
Seymour Recycling
Timeline
Site listed on NLP
Site studies begin
First removal conducted
* Municipal water supply extended
to 100 homes
1
* Congress enacts Superfund
* State court places site in receivership <
* Site fenced; dikes constructed
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, Library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard, 12th Floor
Chicago, II 60604-3590
Owner agrees to institute
management controls
1
Seymour recycling, storage, and
incineration facility opens
Explosions and chemical fires
I-
1970
1978
1980
1982
1983
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Superfund At Work Seymour Recycling*Corporation Site, Jackson County, IN Winter 1994
Treat Hazardous Wastes
Poor Management Practices
The Seymour Recycling Corpo-
ration accepted waste without
adequate management plans for
inventory, treatment or storage.
Barrels of chemicals were fre-
quently stored without checking
their contents or emptied directly
onto the ground. On several
occasions, chemicals reacted,
causing explosions and fires.
Area residents complained of
offensive odors.
In 1978, the company agreed to
stop receiving waste and to
institute better controls. But in
1980, the company's failure to
follow that agreement lead an
Indiana state court to place the
site under state receivership for
failure to comply with environ-
mental laws.
Superfund Reduces
Immediate Risks
In the spring of 1980, leaking
chemicals caused an explosion
and fire at the site, and shortly
thereafter, the state turned to EPA
for help. Congress had enacted
the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA) that year,
establishing the Superfund pro-
gram to address thousands of
hazardous waste sites nation-
wide. CERCLA empowered EPA
to compel those responsible for
contaminating sites to undertake
prescribed cleanup actions. EPA
quickly identified a group of
waste contributors who removed
some of the drums and con-
structed levees to prevent the
hazardous waste from spreading.
EPA then relocated several area
residents and fenced the site to
restrict access.
50,000 drums and 100
storage tanks were
abandoned on the site
In 1982, EPA entered into a
cleanup agreement with a small
group of the hazardous waste
contributors. Between 1982 and
1984, this group removed and
r
1 EPA selects final remedy following
public comment
* Temporary ground water treatment system
constructed
Waste contributors sign consent decree
Protective cap installed
* Bioremediation and soil vapor extraction
systems begin
«Vapor extraction completed (planned)
* Ground water treatment, bioremediation,
and site monitoring (ongoing)
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Superfund At Work Seymour Recycling Corporation* Site, Jackson County, I
Winter 1994
disposed of 50,000 drums, 100
storage tanks, and contaminated
soil to a depth of one foot from
about 75 percent of the site. The
excavated areas were covered
with clay and clean soil to immo-
bilize the underlying contami-
nants. These efforts cost about $2
million; subsequently, this group
of waste contributors was released
from future liability at the site.
Agreements between EPA and
additional parties in 1982 and 1983
established an escrow account of
approximately $10 million. This
account was used in 1985 to
complete the soil cleanup and to
extend the Seymour municipal
water system to 100 residents of a
nearby subdivision and on a farm.
EPA and Indiana Select
Final Remedy
In 1983, EPA placed Seymour
Recycling on the National Priori-
ties List (NPL), a roster of uncon-
trolled or abandoned hazardous
waste sites requiring comprehen-
sive cleanup under the Superfund
program.
Between 1983 and 1986, EPA
investigated the nature and extent
of the remaining contamination
and evaluated appropriate
cleanup technologies. The inves-
tigation indicated a moving pool
of contaminated ground water
extending three-quarters of a mile
from the site as well as 150,000
cubic yards of contaminated soil
and sediment.
Following a period of public
comment on various cleanup
strategies, officials from EPA and
the Indiana Department of Envi-
ronmental Management (IDEM)
selected the final remedy for the
site in September 1986. The plan
had four major components:
treatment of ground water, a
multi-layer protective soil cover,
bioremediation, and vapor
extraction for treating soil and
sediment.
Waste Contributors
Establish Trust Fund
After two years of negotiations,
150 waste contributors signed a
settlement document called a
consent decree with EPA and
IDEM to conduct the selected
remedy. During negotiations, the
waste contributors installed a
temporary ground water pump
and treatment system to mini-
mize the movement of contami-
nated ground water and to test
the effectiveness of the treatment
technology being considered for
the final cleanup.
continued on page 5
Solvents, acids, and heavy metals from leaking barrels polluted soil and ground water over a 12 - year period,
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Superfund At Work Seymour Recycling Corporation Site, Jackson County,
Winter 1994
Innovative
Tedmologies
continued from page 4
In 1988, the waste contributors
established a trust fund of almost
$30 million for cleaning up the
site. A selected trustee managed
the fund and directed construc-
tion activities.
Ground Water and Soil
Addressed First
Initial cleanup efforts focused
on addressing contamination in
ground water, soil, and sediments
from a ditch filled with runoff.
Ground water was first exposed
to an air stream that removed
VOCs and then was filtered
through activated carbon. That
water was then pumped to the
city wastewater treatment plant
for further processing and dis-
posal. Private wells in the nearby
subdivision were sealed following
their connection to the municipal
water supply. Ground water
treatment will continue for at
least 12 and up to 30 years until
cleanup goals are met.
A seven-layer protective cover
called a "cap" was constructed
over the remaining contaminated
soil and excavated sediment
from the ditch. Several buildings
on the site also were demolished
and the debris consolidated with
the soil. The cap provides a
barrier against rain seeping into
the ground water and prevents
direct exposure to the underlying
soil.
EPA is continuing to treat the
soil, sediment and debris under
Soil Vapor Extraction
An unusual method of vapor extraction was employed at the
Seymour Recycling site to remove VOCs from the soil Conven-
tional vapor extraction systems rely on a series of wells placed
vertically into contaminated soil. A vacuum is applied to alter-
nate weHs with those in between left open to the atmosphere to
allow air circulation. The VOCs are drawn out of the soil and
sent to an exhaust system. Because of me reliance on air, vapor
extraction can only be conducted under dry conditions.
This conventional technique did not work at the Seymour
Recycling site because the VOCs were buried beneath the multi-
layered cap and ground water was six feet below ground level.
Horizonal wells were placed 30 inches below the cap and slot-
ted and wrapped with filter doth to keep out sand and sol. The
horizontal wells were men connected to headers at the north
and south endof the cap. A vacuum puiap hooked to the
header at on© end draws air from the header at the other end,
and VOC-kden air from the soil flows through the system to the
exhaust, fa addition, bioremediation occurring beneath the cap
puts more VQGs into air spaces in the soil.
the cap using an innovative
technology called bioremediation.
The technology takes advantage
of naturally occurring bacteria in
the soil to "eat" away the contami-
nants. To speed growth of the
bacteria, nutrients were added to
the soil before the cap was com-
pleted.
"...government and
industry have joined
together at Seymour to
implement the best
technology available..."
The bioremediation technique
complemented another technol-
ogy known as vapor extraction
which acts like a giant vacuum
cleaner, drawing VOCs from the
soil. Together, both approaches
5 *
prevent further migration of con-
taminants into local ground water.
Construction Completed Early
The remedial plan for the site
specified a completion date of five
years, but a high degree of coop-
eration among the settling parties
enabled the effort to be completed
in 1991, more than two years
ahead of schedule. Early start up,
simultaneous work activities,
team communications, harmoni-
ous resolution of legal issues, and
cooperative management decision
making were key to beating the
cleanup schedule. EPA's Regional
Administrator in Chicago stated,
". . . government and industry
have joined together at Seymour
to implement the best technology
available to restore
the area."
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, Library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson BoniwarH 1 9^ p|Mf
'
, IL 60604-3590
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Superfund At Work Seymour Recycling Corporatiofi Site, Jackson County, I
Winter 1994
Keeping the Community Informed
Before selecting the final
remedy for the site, EPA held a
public meeting and invited the
residents to comment on different
cleanup alternatives. EPA repre-
sentatives periodically appeared
on the local cable network chan-
nel to provide updates on site
progress. In addition, EPA,
IDEM, and the waste contributors
conducted open houses and
tours, held early and frequent
meetings with key community
leaders, gave frequent presenta-
tions, distributed newsletters and
information pamphlets, and
designed and displayed an ex-
hibit about the site. During
construction, monthly progress
reports were provided to the
mayor of Seymour.
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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 bulletins, contact the
National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road,
Springfield, VA 22161, telephone (703) 487-4650.
Success at
Seymour
Recycling
From early investigations
through completion of construc-
tion, EPA, the state, and the
waste contributors worked in
harmony to reduce risks at the
site.
Leaking drums, chemical
storage tanks, and contaminated
surface soil were quickly re-
moved and disposed of off site.
Treatment of ground water, soil,
and sediment was completed
more than two years ahead of
schedule and biorahediation
continues to break down con-
taminants under a multi-layered
protective cover.
v EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
5502G
Washington, D.C. 20460
Bulk Rate
Postage and Fees Paid
EPA
Permit No. G-35
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
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