U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Fact Sheet # 18
Standard Chlorine of Delaware
(aka Metachem) Site
Delaware City, New Castle County, Delaware
EPA Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Cleanup Plan
July 2009
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues its cleanup effort at the Standard Chlorine of
Delaware Superfund Site (the Site), also known as the Metachem Site, located in Delaware City, New Castle
County, Delaware. EPA's Remedial Program (long-term cleanups) is cleaning up the Site in four separate
parts, called "operable units," or OUs. This fact sheet provides a summary of the proposed cleanup plan for
OU-3, and announces an upcoming public meeting to discuss the details of the proposed plan.
EPA Seeks Public Comment on Proposed
Cleanup Plan
EPA's cleanup at the Metachem Site is separated
into four parts, called Operable Units (OUs).
• OU-1 interim (short-term ) remedy for
contaminated groundwater (remedy operating
since 2007)
• OU-2 addresses contaminated soils and
sediments contaminated by historic spills
(remedy under review by EPA)
• OU-3 long-term remedy for contaminated soils
and soil-gas in the former plant area (remedy
being proposed Summer 2009)
• OU-4 long-term remedy for contaminated
groundwater (future remedy)
EPA has developed a proposed cleanup plan
("Proposed Plan") for OU-3. The Proposed Plan
lists cleanup methods evaluated for possible use at
the site and highlights one of the methods as EPA's
recommended cleanup option. EPA is seeking
public comment on the Proposed Plan and
recommended cleanup method, which consists of a
surface cap and institutional controls.
The suggested remedy is to: 1) install a secure, per-
manent cover to prevent contact and/or migration of
contaminated soils and soil-gas, and 2) to provide
legal protections to keep the cover from being
disturbed in the future.
This fact sheet provides a brief summary of the
Proposed Plan. If you would like to review the
entire document, it is available online at:
* www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/
DED041212473/index.htm
* www.epa.gov/arweb
A paper copy of the Proposed Plan is also available
for review at:
0 Delaware City Public Library, 250 Fifth St.,
Delaware City, DE.
0 Delaware Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control (DNREC), 391 Lukens
Dr., New Castle, DE.
0 U.S. EPA, Region 3, 1650 Arch St., Philadel-
phia PA.
Please Note the Change in the Public Comment Period Dates
A corrected public notice was published in the 07/21/09 edition of the News Journal newspaper
The 30-day Public Comment Period for the OU-3 Proposed Plan
is July 16, 2009 until August 14, 2009
Please mail comments to: (postmarked no later than August 14, 2009)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3,
1650 Arch Street (Mailcode 3HS23), Philadelphia, PA 19103
Attn: Hilary Thornton, RPM
or
email to: thornton.hilary@epa.gov
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Operable Unit (OU)-3
In order to address contaminated soils and
related soil-gas in the area where the
manufacturing plant used to stand, the OU-3
cleanup would consist of:
• capping approximately 23 acres of surface
soil; and
• connecting that cap to the already-
constructed vertical groundwater
containment barrier, located below the
surface.
After reviewing the Remedial Investigation
and Feasibility Study for the site, EPA
evaluated ways to complete these tasks.
Below is a summary of cleanup options
reviewed with EPA's preferred cleanup
method highlighted in bold text.
Proposed Plan Summary
* No-action
No-action is an option that is required by
law to be evaluated at Superfund sites.
This serves as a good baseline for
comparison purposes.
* Surface Cap and Institutional
Controls
Construction of a Resource Conserva-
tion and Recovery Act (RCRA)-
approved cap (such as concrete, asphalt
or multi-layers) that ties into the
existing subsurface groundwater
barrier wall, and Institutional Controls
(ICs) that would restrict future land use
to commercial, light industrial or park-
land purposes. ICs would also require
that any onsite construction must not
interfere with the integrity of the
cleanup remedies in place.
* Surface Cap, Institutional Controls and
Soil Vapor Extraction
Construction of a RCRA-approved cap,
ICs restricting future land use and install-
ing a soil-vapor extraction (SVE) well
system. The SVE system would have
several (estimated 200 - 500) air extraction
and inlet wells installed approximately 50
feet deep. Off-gas from the SVE system
would likely require carbon adsorption
treatment before emitting into the air.
Additional sampling would be required to
identify areas with the highest levels of
contamination (called "hotspots"), and a
pilot study would be needed before putting
this remedy into action.
* Surface Cap, Institutional Controls,
SVE and In-Situ Thermal Desorption
(ISTD)
Construction of a RCRA-approved cap,
ICs restricting future land use, SVE well
system, and in-situ thermal desorption
heating units and extraction wells. The
ISTD heaters (estimated 2,800) and
heated vapor extraction wells (estimated
1,400) would be installed throughout a
330,000 square-foot area at identified
"hotspot" locations. This option would
also require additional sampling to
identify the hotspot areas, and a pilot study
would be needed before use.
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EPA's Nine Criteria for Evaluation
Your Role in the Process
Before EPA chooses a cleanup method, the
options are evaluated using nine criteria:
* Overall Protection of Human Health
and the Environment
> Compliance with Applicable or
Relevant and Appropriate
Requirements (ARARs)
> Long-Term Effectiveness
> Reduction of Toxicity, Mobility or
Volume through Treatment
* Short-Term Effectiveness
* Implementability
* Cost
* State Acceptance
* Community Acceptance
Based on the information available to date, using
the criteria listed above, EPA suggests using the
RCRA-approved cap and Institutional Controls
as the preferred cleanup option because it will:
0 Be protective of human health and the
environment,
0 Comply with state and federal laws,
0 Be efficient and cost-effective, and
0 Provide a permanent remedy.
At this point, EPA has only fully evaluated the
first seven of the nine criteria for each of the
cleanup options listed. Only after considering
input from state officials and the community
regarding Proposed Plan, will EPA make a
cleanup remedy decision. EPA's suggested
preferred method could change in response to
new information and/or public comments.
Community involvement is critical to EPA's
decision making process. To provide the
community with an opportunity to comment on
the Proposed Plan, there is an official 30-day
Public Comment Period. The public comment
period regarding the OU-3 cleanup plan is
from July 16, 2009 until August 14, 2009
Comments can be submitted:
* By Postal mail,
* By E-mail, or
* In Person, at EPA's
Proposed Plan Public Meeting,
Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at the
Delaware City Fire Hall,
located at 815 Fifth Street,
Delaware City, DE. The
meeting is from 6:00 p.m. until
8:00 p.m.
Next Steps
After the public comment period ends and
comments have been reviewed and carefully
considered, EPA, in cooperation with DNREC,
will choose the OU-3 cleanup option to be used
for the site. The cleanup option will be recorded
in a document called a Record of Decision
(ROD).
Public comments submitted to EPA about the
OU-3 Proposed Plan, along with EPA's
responses to those comments, will be included in
the ROD, listed under the section called
"Responsiveness Summary."
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EPA Public Meeting
EPA will hold a public meeting to discuss the Standard
Chlorine of Delaware (aka Metachem) Superfund Site
Operable Unit-3 (OU-3) proposed cleanup plan.
Comments on the proposed plan can be submitted
during the public meeting, which will be held on:
Tuesday, July 28,2009
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
at the Delaware City pre Hall
815 Fifth Street
Delaware City, DE19706
For More Information
Online Resources:
www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/
DED041212473/index.htm
www.dnrec.state.de.us/DNREC2000/
Divisions/AWM/do/metachem.asp
If you have additional questions, please
contact one of the following representatives:
Trish Taylor, Community Involvement
Coordinator, EPA, 215-814-5539
Hilary Thornton, Remedial Project
Manager, EPA, 215-814-3323
Todd Keyser, Project Manager,
DNREC, 302-395-2600
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