xvEPA
Mark your calendars
EPA will hold an information
session to answer questions about
the Health Consultation Study for
the Greiner's Lagoon Site.
Date: December 11, 2002
Time: 6 to 8 p.m.
Place: Birchard Public Library
423 Croghan Street
Fremont, Ohio
Next steps
• Cleanup work expected to
begin in 2003
• EPA will notify residents
before work starts
For additional information
If you have questions or concerns
about the site, please contact:
Tom Williams
Remedial Project Manager
Superfund Division (SR-6I)
(312)886-6157
Rafael P. Gonzalez
Community Involvement
Coordinator
Office of Public Affairs (P-19I)
(312)886-0269
Address for both individuals:
U.S. EPA Region 5
77 West lackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
Site information, including the
Health Study, is also available at
the Birchard Public Library (see
address above). Please call (419)
334-7101 for hours of operation.
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 5
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604
Illinois • Indiana
Michigan • Minnesota
Ohio • Wisconsin
Health Study Prompts Revision
In Site Cleanup Plan
Greiner's Lagoon Site
Fremont, Ohio
November 2002
Results of a health study have prompted U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5 to revise its cleanup plan for the Greiner's Lagoon Superfund Site.
EPA will present the changes at a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 11, from 6 to 8
p.m. in the Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan St., in Fremont. EPA officials
will also discuss the health study results.
At an August 2001 meeting, a number of Fremont residents said they were
concerned about the potential long-term health risks of having toxic materials
left at the site under a cap, or cover. These materials include volatile organic
compounds (materials that evaporate easily, such as solvents), semivolatile
organic compounds, PCBs and metals. In response to these concerns, EPA
asked the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to do a health
consultation study. This study evaluated long-term health risks and
recommended steps to ensure public health.
After reviewing the ATSDR study, EPA determined that the site does not pose a
hazard to area residents now, or in the future if a cap is installed. EPA will
place a cap on the site and monitor the ground water. The original plan called
for stabilizing the materials in place with concrete before putting on the cap, but
that step is no longer needed. The cap will now be a soil cover with grass and
trees. These are the main changes in the revised plan. Future use of the site will
be limited, and EPA will evaluate the cap to make sure it works.
Site diagram
Plowed Field
Cotton wood and - -
Hybrid Poplar Trees
Ditch
Inlet
™ i
-J i Cindor
Road
Plowed Field
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Results of health consultation study
ATSDR looked at how people might come into contact
with toxic chemicals at the site and what might happen
to them. People at risk are construction workers at the
site, people trespassing on the site and people who live
nearby.
There are several ways people might come into contact
with chemicals. They could:
Touch or ingest contaminated soil or inhale vapor or
dust at the site.
Touch, ingest or inhale volatile organic compounds
from contaminated ground water at the site.
• Touch, ingest or inhale contaminants in surface
water or sediment, either at the site or somewhere
else.
• Touch or ingest ground water just under the surface,
but away from the site.
Touch or ingest ground water from an aquifer away
from the site.
According to the study, there is little chance for anyone
being affected by the toxic materials at the Greiner's
Lagoon site. Construction workers might come into
contact with contaminants when they dig two to four
feet below the surface. Proper clothing, however, would
reduce the risk of chemicals touching the skin. Workers
wearing respirators would not inhale any fumes.
Local residents would not be at risk from the materials
on the site unless they trespass there. They could be at
risk if contamination leaks into the ground water and
moves off the site. That's unlikely, though. There is
ground water flowing through a level of sand about four
feet beneath the surface. That water could become
contaminated, but people don't get their drinking water
from that level. Wells in the area go much deeper, into a
bedrock source that hasn't been affected by the
contamination, and most likely won't be affected. The
ground water near the site, however, will be monitored
to ensure that this doesn't happen. Chemicals could
move off site through surface water, such as the
drainage ditch or Indian Creek. But no chemicals have
been found in that water, only low levels of metals.
Trespassers would most likely be unaffected in all cases
because the chemicals will be at least two feet
underground. The proposed cap will also reduce the
chance of anybody touching the chemicals.
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