United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance
(2201)
EPA 520-F-95-004
Spring 1995
Superfund At Work
Hazardous Waste Cleanup Efforts Nationwide
Sand Creek Industrial
Site Profile
Site Description: Former pesticide
manufacturing facility, petroleum
refinery, small municipal landfill, and
acid waste disposal pits
Site Size: 300 acres
Primary Contaminants: Volatile
organic compounds, pesticides, and
arsenic
Potential Range of Health Risks:
Toxicity causing skin and eye
irritation, respiratory distress,
central nervous system disorders,
increased risk of cancer
Nearby Population: 25 people
within 1 mile
Year Listed on NPL: 1982
EPA Region: 8
State: Colorado
Congressional District: 4
View of the Sand Creek Industrial site during the early stages of cleanup.
Success in Brief
Innovative Technologies Accelerate
a "Brownfields Redevelopment"
Using a combination of leading-edge approaches, hazardous
wastes from pesticide manufacturing, oil refining, and improper
landfilling have been cleaned up at the Sand Creek Industrial site in
Commerce City, Colorado.
In 1994, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)
completed cleanup of the site using a combination of innovative tech-
nologies including soil vapor extraction (SVE) and low-temperature
thermal treatment (LTTT). These innovative technologies were chosen
because of their low overall cost and demonstrated efficiency in elimi-
nating site contaminants. EPA and CDPHE also applied an aggressive
and streamlined approach to ensure that the selected remedy remained
under budget and on schedule.
Companies or individuals who had been found legally associated
with the site's contamination - either because they contributed hazard-
ous wastes or now own the property - included the LC Corporation
(LCC), Burlington Northern Railroad Company, and Browning-Ferris
Industries, Inc. These companies effectively remediated contamination
at the site during the past several years.
The Site Today
Reuse of formerly contami-
nated industrial properties is
known as "Brownfields Redevel-
opment" - a high priority for
EPA. With cleanup efforts com-
plete in several areas and new
construction under way on part
of the site, EPA expects that the
site will return to productive use
in the near future. Commerce
City officials are currently work-
ing with EPA to remove obstacles
to redevelopment.
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Superfund At Work Sand Creek Industrial Site, Commerce City, CO
Spring 1995
The 300-acre Sand Creek
Industrial site is located in
a commercial area about
7 miles northeast of down-
town Denver. Four known
entities polluted the site,
including LCC, the Colo-
rado Organic Chemical
Company (COC), the 48th
and Holly Landfill, and the
Oriental Refinery. All four
are inactive but each con-
tributed to the site contami-
nation in a variety of ways.
The site's 50-year history
includes a fire that de-
stroyed the refinery, a
major spill of refined petro-
A Site Snapshot
leum, two methane explosions
that killed two workers, and a
fire at a pesticide formulator
that released fumes over north-
east Denver and resulted in
several firemen being hospital-
ized.
Sand Creek
Industrial Site
Commerce City, CO
As early as 1968, state
health agencies documented
unsatisfactory waste manage-
ment practices and worker
safety conditions, particularly
violations in storage and
handling of flammable liq-
uids. Ground water contami-
nants include various volatile
organic compounds (VOCs)
and arsenic; soil in some areas
was contaminated with
VOCs, pesticides, and arsenic.
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Superfund At Work Sand Creek Industrial Site, Commerce City, CO Spring 1995
The earliest evidence of
contamination at the site was
discovered in the 1940s, when
26 inches of a "gasoline-type
material" were found floating
in a well on a nearby property.
The landowner sued three oil
companies operating near the
property for causing the con-
tamination, but the court was
not persuaded that these com-
panies were responsible.
According to aerial photo-
graphs, the site during the early
1950s was mostly cropland,
pasture, feedlots for cattle, a
pond, and wetlands. Industrial
and commercial development
continued throughout the 1950s
and 1960s with the entrance of
refineries and landfills.
Former Oil Refinery Reduced
to Pile of Rubble
Many serious fires occurred
on the site, the first of note in
1955 that destroyed the Oriental
Refinery. A major spill of
refined petroleum had long-
lasting environmental conse-
quences. In 1980, EPA found
diesel fuel in several ground
water monitoring wells and
petroleum-contaminated soil
at depths to 28 feet, both origi-
nating from the 1955 spill.
Toxic Fumes over Northeast
Denver
In 1968, the COC part of the
site sustained a serious blaze
and again in 1977. That fire at a
pesticide formulator forced the
evacuation of more than 800
people and at least 26 were
treated after they inhaled toxic
parathion fumes. Afterward,
the company was cited for a
series of violations involving
unsatisfactory waste manage-
ment practices and unsafe
working conditions.
COC had been manufactur-
ing pesticides beginning in the
1960s and intermittently for 20
years. By 1984, the COC prop-
erty included six buildings,
10 above ground tanks, and an
uncovered area that was previ-
ously used for storage. The
property also contained 120
drums that were unlabeled,
corroded, bulged, and leaking.
In combination, the fires and
unacceptable waste manage-
ment methods left the property
contaminated with pesticides,
arsenic, and VOCs.
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Superfund At Work Sand Creek Industrial Site, Commerce City, CO
Spring 1995
Livestock Severely Burned
The LCC part of the site was
used to store and neutralize
spent acidic wastes from Shell's
herbicide chemical plant at the
Rocky Mountain Arsenal. In
1974, livestock that strayed on
the property suffered severe
chemical burns when they
wandered across the acid pits.
Most of this contamination was
removed in 1980 when LCC
mixed and neutralized the
acidic wastes with lime.
Methane Explosion Takes
Two Lives
The 48th and Holly Landfill
accepted demolition debris and
domestic refuse from 1968 to
1975. As the wastes decom-
posed, they generated methane
gas. In 1977, two workers were
killed and five injured by an
explosion during construction
of a water conduit; a study by
CDPHE concluded that the
explosion occurred when meth-
ane migrated from the landfill.
Operators Abandon Sites
With the advent of environ-
mental regulation in the early
and mid-1970s, many sites were
abandoned by operators who
found that upgrading their
aging facilities to meet new
performance standards could
not be economically justified. In
addition, thousands of other
problem industrial sites existed
around the country, prompting
Congress to enact the Compre-
hensive Environmental Re-
sponse, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA).
In 1982, EPA added Sand Creek
to the National Priorities List of
sites requiring comprehensive
cleanup under the new
Superfund program.
The site can now return
to productive use
EPA Takes Over
A series of studies completed
in 1988 recommended dividing
the site into a series of operable
units (OUs), a method of segre-
gating the site by geographic
area or type of contaminant to
make the cleanup process more
manageable. At Sand Creek,
these OUs included:
1. Deep soil and contami-
nated buildings on part of
the COC property
2. The LCC property
3. Sediments, soil, surface
water, and ground water
near the 48th and Holly
Landfill
4. Site-wide ground water
5. Shallow soil in the COC
property
6. Methane gas from the 48th
and Holly Landfill.
Investigations and cleanup at
OUs 1, 2,4, and 5 were com-
pleted as "fund-lead" sites:
federal and state agencies used
Superfund and state money to
oversee and conduct cleanup.
The other OUs were investi-
gated and cleaned up using
private funds with supervision
by the regulatory agencies.
Today, most of the contami-
nated soil is gone. About 2,000
cubic yards of debris, including
four buildings, four rail cars,
two concrete tanks, and 13 steel
tanks have been hauled away.
Between October 1993 and July
1994, EPA used the innovative
SVE process at OU 1 to remove
about 170,000 pounds of con-
tamination from deep soil.
Nearly all of the acidic
wastes at OU 2 had been treated
in 1980 by LCC. EPA concluded
that no additional work to
control contamination was
needed there.
Ground water sampling
under OU 4 found a plume of
light non-aqueous phase liquids
(LNAPLs) comprised of petro-
leum products floating on the
water beneath the northwest
portion of the site. The LNAPLs
were removed from atop the
ground water using a combina-
tion of SVE and dual vapor
extraction technologies.
Between June and August
1994, EPA operated a LTTT
system at the site to clean up
more than 8,000 tons of con-
taminated soil at OU 5.
Other approaches at Sand
Creek included institutional
controls such as zoning restric-
tions and bans on drilling
wells. Additional approaches
under OUs 3 and 6 include
maintenance of landfill cover
and erosion control, and
a landfill gas extraction system
that collects, condenses, and
flares methane gas.
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Superfund At Work Sand Creek Industrial Site, Commerce City, CO Spring 1995
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Dual Vapor Extraction (DVE) System
Extracted liquid Extracted vapor
Dual Vapor
Extraction Wells
Vapor/Liquid
Separator
Vacuum
Extraction
Unit
Oil/Water
Separator
To atmosphere
Vapor
Treatment
System
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Superfund At Work Sand Creek Industrial Site, Commerce City, CO Spring 1995
continued from page 5
Low Temperature Thermal
Treatment
LTTT vaporizes volatile and
semivolatile organic com-
pounds from soil, sludges, and
other solids. At the Sand Creek
Site, engineers used a relatively
low temperature of about 500
to 625 degrees Fahrenheit to
vaporize pesticides. No by-
products of combustion formed
because the solids were heated
but not actually burned.
To release contaminants such
as pesticides, the excavated soil
was heated in a chamber resem-
bling a clothes dryer and the
contaminants evaporated from
the soil. The evaporated con-
taminants were collected and
treated by activated carbon
filters. Dust and other particu-
lates were removed or controlled
with activated carbon and other
filtering devices such as cy-
clones, baghouses, or venturi
scrubbers. Only clean water
vapor and treated evaporation
gases were released to the atmo-
sphere in compliance with state
and federal air pollution control
requirements. In addition, water
was sprayed on the soil to con-
trol dust. The clean soil was
then backfilled on site.
The LTTT technology can
be adapted to destroy addi-
tional contaminants and can be
used for both high and low
contaminant concentrations.
LTTT operates at lower tempera-
tures and uses less fuel than
incinerators.
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