United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5502G)
EPA520-F-94-015
Fall 1994
Superfund At Work
Hazardous Waste Cleanup Efforts Nationwide
Northwest Transformer
Mission/Pole Site Profile
Site Description:
Former electrical transformer
salvage yard
Site Size: 1.2 acres
Primary Contaminants:
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Potential Range of Health Risks:
Chloracne, topical irritations,
central nervous system disorders,
and increased risk of cancer
Nearby Population:
200 people within a one-mile radius
Ecological Concerns:
Local agriculture and wildlife
Year Listed on the NPL: 1986
EPA Region: 10
State: Washington
Congressional District: 2
U.S. Environmental Protection Agen
?|S.jon 5, Library (PL-12J)
// West Jackson Boulevard, 12th
Chicago, JL 60604-3'
Hundreds of leaking transformers surrounded the wooden salvage barn.
Success in Brief
Electrical Transformers Removed
From Farming Community
A high degree of cooperation among federal, state, and private
parries characterized the cleanup of the Northwest Transformer
Mission/Pole (NWTMP) site in Whatcom County, Washington.
Almost 30 years in the making, this old salvage yard had been
thoroughly contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Hundreds of electrical transformers and capacitors littered the site,
some with dangerously high PCB concentrations. Adhering to the
stricter standards of the state, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) developed a Superfund cleanup strategy that included:
An emergency removal of PCB-contaminated soil, liquids
and transformers;
An amended soil cleanup plan that met requirements of the
state's Model Toxics Control Act;
Negotiated settlements with site operators, utility companies, and
small-volume generators to conduct a $3.7 million cleanup; and
Cost recovery of 90% of past cleanup and future monitoring costs.
Joint efforts succeeded in restor-
ing soil and protecting drinking
water for future generations. This
site will be available for future
redevelopment without restric-
tions once ground water monitor-
ing is completed.
The Site Today
All the transformers and
hazardous liquids are gone.
Disturbed portions of the site
have been backfilled and covered
with six inches of topsoil and
grass. Ground water monitoring
will continue through the spring
of 1995 to ensure that off-site and
perimeter wells remain uncon-
taminated.
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Superfund At Work Northwest Transformer Site, Everson, WA
Summer 1994
This 1.2 acre site is at the
intersection of Mission and Pole
Roads, two miles southwest of
Everson, Washington. One of
two properties operated by the
Northwest Transformer Service
Company, the NWTMP site
served as a former salvage and
storage area for electrical trans-
formers. The site is less than 10
miles from the Canadian border
and adjoins prime agricultural
land, dairies, and commercial
and family farms to the south.
The rest of the area is residential
with approximately 200 people
living within one mile of the
site. Ground water is used for
agricultural irrigation and is a
source of residential drinking
water. Some 27 private wells
A Site Snapshot
are located within a half mile of
the site.
The NWT Service Company
operated from 1958 to 1985 at a
one-acre site in downtown
Everson (South Harkness Street).
The company repaired, stored, and
rebuilt electrical transformers and
capacitors containing polychlori-
nated biphenyls (PCBs). The
Mission/Pole Road salvage yard
was leased for disassembling the
transformers and capacitors,
draining fluids, and reusing parts.
When the plant downtown closed
in 1987, the company employed a
dozen people and was receiving
transformers from more than 80
different utility companies.
When first investigating the
salvage yard, EPA discovered
Northwest
Transformer Site
Everson, WA
about 500 transformers aban-
doned in an open field. Waste
oil and PCBs were found in a
seepage pit and a wooden barn;
much of the soil was thoroughly
saturated. With both agricul-
tural and residential properties
nearby, the potential for expo-
sure to contaminants was high.
PCBs can be highly toxic and are
associated with a wide range of
topical irritations, central ner-
vous system disorders, and a
variety of cancers.
Northwest Transformer
Mission/Pole
Timeline
NWT owner-operators fail to cooperate
EPA conducts emergency removal
EPA proposes salvage yard site to NPL
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Superfund At Work Northwest Transformer Site, Everson, WA Summer 1994
Cooperative Efforts Transform Hazardous Waste Site
Public Awareness Triggers
Response
Starting in the early 1960s,
workers at the salvage yard
drained contaminated fluids from
spent transformers into a wood-
frame, gravel-filled seepage pit
about six to eight feet deep.
Workers also used some PCB oils
to heat a wooden barn that served
as a work area, salvaging scrap
copper and steel for sale to local
firms. Some PCB wastes and
casings from transformers were
burned in an open concrete pit
called an air curtain incinerator.
The incinerator only operated
about twice a year, reaching
temperatures up to 1,200° F.
During the 1970s, Everson
residents complained to state and
local officials about the unre-
stricted site, noting that children
may have come into direct con-
tact with tainted soil. State offi-
cials were unaware of any health
effects related to the bi-annual
incinerations.
Hundreds of transformers
littered the site
In 1976, Congress enacted the
Toxic Substances Control Act
(TSCA) which outlawed PCB
production and distibution.
Beginning in 1977, new EPA
regulations required the Wash-
ington State Department of
Ecology and Whatcom County
officials to regularly inspect the
NWTMP site.
Finding the site "in a condition
of disarray", EPA fined NWT's
owners and operators under
TSCA for improper storage and
disposal of PCBs and for inad-
equate record keeping, marking,
and dating. Six months earlier in
December 1980, Congress had
enacted the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Com-
pensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA). This law established
the "Superfund" program to
clean up the multitude of prob-
lems associated with improper
hazardous waste disposal.
Dangerously High PCB
Levels Revealed
At this time, ground water
samples from nearby domestic
wells indicated no elevated levels
of PCBs in local drinking water.
1 Site placed on NPL
m EPA and USAGE begin detailed studies
^ * Site investigation completed
EPA issues cleanup plan
r
Several parties perform treatability study
1 State enacts Model Toxics Control Act
1 EPA issues revised cleanup plan
1 Landowners agree to pay past costs
85 parties agree to conduct cleanup
EPA approves cleanup design
Excavation,
incineration begins
^Construction [/*Ground
completed i wa*er
monitoring
1986
1987 1988 1989
1990
1991
1992
1993 1994
Ongoing
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Superfund At Work Northwest Transformer Site, Everson, WA
Summer 1994
But 200 parts per million (ppm)
were recorded in on-site soil, 20
times higher than federal safety
standards. EPA proposed the site
to the National Priorities List, the
agency's roster of serious hazard-
ous waste sites requiring cleanup
under the Superfund program.
In March 1985, EPA again
sampled soil and liquids at the
site and recorded PCB levels as
high as 38,000 ppm. This severe
contamination prompted EPA to
order the company to restrict
access to the site, start cleaning up
the soil, and take samples.
EPA Stabilizes Site
When NWT Service Company
failed to comply with the cleanup
order, EPA enclosed the salvage
yard with an eight-foot cyclone
fence. All the transformers were
centralized and rinsed of their
PCB fluids and about 6,000 gal-
lons of tainted liquids were
incinerated or recycled. A techni-
cal assistance team excavated and
disposed of 1,400 cubic yards of
contaminated soil and debris at
approved facilities. Workers also
installed five ground water
monitoring wells and tested 21
residential wells; no private well
had elevated PCB levels.
EPA Selects Comprehensive
Cleanup Plan
While the 1985 emergency
action reduced some dangers, the
site required a comprehensive
remediation. In 1986, EPA placed
the site on the NPL, and together
with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, conducted in-depth
studies between 1987 and 1988.
These studies found certain
areas to be contaminated with
PCBs at markedly elevated levels.
In addition, the wooden barn was
a source of residual contamina-
tion and low levels of PCBs in
ground water warranted contin-
ued monitoring.
EPA's final cleanup plan,
announced in 1989, featured an
innovative technology known as
in situ vitrification (ISV). ISV is a
thermochemical treatment pro-
cess that electrically melts the
contaminants in soil. Upon
cooling, a stable, glass-like solid
remains. EPA's recommendation
was to cap the treated soil with a
two-foot soil cover and to con-
tinue studies of area ground
water and the barn to determine if
additional cleanup actions were
necessary. The State of Washing-
ton concurred with the plan to
use ISV for the soil cleanup.
Cleanup Plan Adjusted to
Reflect New Findings
After issuing the cleanup plan,
EPA negotiated with some utility
companies that did business with
NWT Service Company to per-
form pre-cleanup treatability
studies. These studies included
testing the effectiveness of the ISV
technology, continuing ground
water monitoring, and evaluating
the extent of the old wooden
barn's contamination.
The utilities' ISV study con-
cluded that, while ISV would
treat the soil satisfactorily, the
technology was not economical
and could cost as much as five
times the original estimate. EPA
was persuaded to amend the
plan, taking into consideration the
State of Washington's new haz-
ardous waste cleanup law, the
Model Toxics Control Act. Provi-
sions of that law allow the state to
impose a more stringent cleanup
standard for PCBs than does
federal law. Incineration would
quickly and effectively destroy all
contaminants to satisfy state
standards but wouldn't finan-
cially jeopardize any of the waste
contributors.
Fair, flexible settlements
achieve results
The amended cleanup plan
required off-site removal and
incineration of site soil having
PCB concentrations of 50 ppm or
more and removal of 1,500 cubic
yards of less contaminated soil
and barn materials to an ap-
proved hazardous waste landfill.
Flexibility Results in Negotiated
Settlements
Viewed as a partner instead of
an adversary, EPA was able to
secure two major cost settlements,
the first in August 1991 with
seven owners and operators who
agreed to pay $460,000 in past
cleanup costs. In November 1991,
85 utility companies 70 of them
continued on page 6
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Superfund At Work Northwest Transformer Site, Everson, WA Summer 1994
The Trouble With PCBs
From the 1930s until 1977,
polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) were widely used as
coolants in electrical equip-
ment, in brake and hydraulic
fluids, and in the manufacture
of plastics, adhesives, paints,
and other industrial products.
Because of their universal
acceptance, PCBs were not
recognized as potentially
dangerous until the late 1960s.
Scientific studies have shown
that PCBs are unusually persis-
tent in the environment, and
background levels have been
measured in outdoor air, on
soil surfaces, and in water.
Nearly everyone has some
internal level of PCBs, includ-
ing infants who drink breast
milk from exposed mothers.
PCBs bioaccumulate in fatty
tissue and are suspected car-
cinogens. For these reasons,
the Toxic Substances Control
Act of 1976 (TSCA) banned the
manufacture, distribution, and
use of PCBs.
Over the years, research on
PCBs has reached some differ-
ent conclusions. An industry-
financed assessment concluded
that the carcinogenicity of
PCBs was related to the
amount of chlorine used in the
synthesis process, therefore
EPA should adopt standards
for PCBs based on chlorination.
On the other hand, studies at
the State University of New
York and Wayne State Univer-
sity link PCBs even those
that are lightly chlorinated
to neurological damage and
loss of motor control, particu-
larly in children, causing
learning disabilities similar to
those associated with lead
poisoning. Other research at
the University of Michigan
found malignant breast tumors
in women with higher traces of
PCBs than benign tumors.
Further studies of marine
mammals (dolphins, seals, and
whales) implicate PCBs as a
cause of low birth rate and
even death.
Because so many studies
associate PCBs with toxicity,
the EPA cleanup standard is
10 parts per million (ppm).
One ppm is comparable to
one drop of gasoline in the
tank of a full-size car. At the
Northwest Transformer site,
the state standard of one
ppm was applied to the
cleanup of PCBs in soil.
Octachlorobiphenyl
Two hexagon-shaped molecules of carbon linked together constitute
the basic biphenyl. As many as 10 chlorine atoms can be attached to
the biphenyl structure, hence the name, poly (many) chlorinated
bi (two) phenyl. Shown here is Octachlorobiphenyl with eight chlorine
atoms; there are more than 400 known compounds.
Each additional attachment of the basic biphenyl and its associated
chlorines increases the molecular weight, providing greater stability. But
greater stability translates into persistence in the environment and
increased toxicity. Even with a manufacturing and distribution ban in
effect since 1976, PCBs have bioaccumulated in species all the way up
the food chain to man.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, library (PL-12J)
77 West Jacksqn_Boujevard, 12th Floor
uniCiigu, IL 60604-3590
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Superfund At Work Northwest Transformer Site, Everson, WA
Summer 1994
Cooperative
Efforts
continued from page 4
de minimis (minor) generators
agreed to pay for the revised
cleanup, valued at approximately
$4 million. This same group
agreed to reimburse $1.2 million
of EPA's past costs.
Between February 1990 and
November 1991, EPA and other
parties signed three additional
agreements for a treatability
study and ground water
monitoring, each valued at
$500,000. Altogether, EPA recov-
ered more than 90% of past costs
and all cleanup and future moni-
toring costs associated with the
site, a sum totalling approxi-
mately $3.7 million. Excavation
and incineration began in the
Success at
Northwest Transformer
EPA's emergency removal
stabilized the NWTMP site
and reduced the greatest
environmental risks. When
treatability studies showed the
selected remedy to be expen-
sive, EPA amended the origi-
nal cleanup plan to reflect the
new evidence. In the process,
EPA worked closely with the
State of Washington to require
a stricter cleanup level for
PCBs than current federal
standards.
spring of 1993 and took one year
to complete. The site now meets
state and federal standards for
unrestricted use.
Nearly 100 responsible
parties performed a long-term
remediation and reimbursed
EPA for past costs. Balancing
different scientific and partisan
perspectives resulted in a job
well done that was acceptable
to waste contributors and the
residents of the local commu-
nity. Although construction
was completed in the spring of
1994, EPA will oversee moni-
toring of ground water at the
site for at least a year.
Recycled/Recyclable
Printed with Soy/Canola Ink on paper that
contains at least 50% recycled fiber
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