COSDEN CHEMICAL COATINGS CORPORATION NEW JERSEY EPA ID# NJD000565531 EPA REGION 2 CONGRESSIONAL DIST. 03 Burlington County Beverly Other Names: Cosden Paint Company Cosden Industrial Coatings Corporation Moleta-Cosden Industrial Coatings Site Description The 6 1/2-acre Cosden Chemical Coatings Corp. site operated under several names from 1945 until 1989, when it permanently closed. The facility produced paints for industrial applications that involved the use of solvents, which were stored in tanks and drums on site. Prior to 1974, solvents and wastes were recycled by a contractor who regularly removed the drums. In 1974, the recycling ceased and the drums accumulated on the site. The owner abandoned the site in 1985. The site first came to the attention of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) following a grass fire at the facility. An inspection by the NJDEP in 1980 revealed surface spills and several hundred unsecured drums stored on site. EPA conducted sampling in 1988 and found the soil to be contaminated primarily with heavy metals and the groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Approximately 3,000 people live in the City of Beverly with a residential development bordering the site. There are two public water supply wells one mile from the site that provide 1.2 million gallons of drinking water per day to Beverly and eight other adjacent townships. These wells are located near the Delaware River which is used for recreational activities. Site Responsibility: This site is being addressed through Federal and State actions. NPL LISTING HISTORY Proposed Date: 01/01/87 Final Date: 07/01/87 Threats and Contaminants ^¦sool The soil was and groundwater is contaminated with VOCs, including toluene, xylene, and ' / \> ethyl benzene. The soil was also contaminated with heavy metals, including chromium, / \ I lead, zinc, and copper, as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Although private wells had been the source of drinking water in the past, all of the homes in the area are now connected to a public water supply system. COSDEN CHEMICAL CORP. 1 May 2002 ------- Clean up Approach This site is being addressed in two stages: immediate actions and a long-term remedial phase focusing on cleanup of the entire site. Response Action Status Immediate Actions: The company initiated the cleanup of the site in early 1985, under a court order, segregating and containerizing waste solvents, paints and spills into drums. This effort was abandoned in late 1985, leaving the removal of over 500 drums of hazardous waste to be completed by the State. After the site was put on the NPL, EPA undertook another major removal action in 1989; hundreds of production and laboratory samples were consolidated and transported off site for incineration at a federally approved facility, as were the contents of one of the underground storage tanks. In July 1989, EPA constructed a fence to secure the site. Entire Site: In September 1992, EPA chose the following remedy to clean up the site: (1) decontamination and demolition of the former manufacturing plant; (2) in-situ stabilization of soils contaminated with PCBs and metals; and (3) extraction, treatment of contaminated groundwater, and reinjection of the treated water. A remedial action construction contract for decontamination, demolition and disposal of all on-site structures, equipment and debris at an appropriate off-site facility, was awarded in May 1995. That work was completed in spring 1996. A pre-design investigation related to the soil remedy revealed that the contamination was widely scattered throughout the site which would make in-situ treatment more costly and less effective than localized excavation with off-site treatment and disposal. An Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) was issued in September 1998 to change the soil remedy to excavation with off-site treatment and disposal. The design of the soil remedy was completed in June 1999. Field work for the soil cleanup began in June and was progressing well when the period of performance for that contractor expired in December 1999. Work resumed under a new contract with the last of the excavation/off-site disposal effort taking place in January 2002 and the final backfilling/landscaping effort completed in March 2002. The design of the groundwater remedy, which includes an extensive hydrogeologic investigation, is ongoing. It is expected that the design will be completed next year. Site Facts: The State ordered Cosden to clean up on-site spills and to remove and dispose of the drums three different times (1981, 1984, and 1985). The company began to comply with the 1985 order but later abandoned the effort. The plant continued to operate on a small scale intermittently until EPA began removal activities in spring 1989. The owner of the site died in 1992, and the small amount of money in his estate did not warrant a cost recovery action. Cleanup Progress (Actual Cleanup Underway) After the site was put on the NPL in 1987, the EPA undertook a removal action. The first action was the construction of a fence to secure the site from trespassers. This was followed by the removal and COSDEN CHEMICAL CORP. 2 May 2002 ------- offsite disposal of 75 lab pack drums, 300 fifty-five gallon drums, 2,000 gallons of bulk liquids, and 350 empty containers ranging in size from 5 gallon pails to fifty-five gallon drums. In the September 1992 Record of Decision, EPA chose three specific remedies to deal with the contamination that existed (1) above ground, (2) in the soil, and (3) in the groundwater. These activities are now being addressed as 3 separate, operable units. The remedial action for OU-1, decontamination, demolition and disposal of all on-site structures, equipment and debris, was initiated in May 1995 and completed 7 months later, ahead of schedule and below budget. The quantities removed were as follows: 776 tons of contaminated building debris, 310 cubic yards of asbestos-containing material and 1.4 tons of PCB-contaminated material. Actual on-site remedial activities for the operable unit addressing soil took place from June 21 to December 16, 1999. During that six-month time frame 9,000 tons of soil, 1,800 tons of debris and 3,000 gallons of liquid waste were safely removed from the site. Under a second remedial contract, which spanned the period January 2000 to March 2002, an additional 987 tons of contaminated soil was removed, along with 724 tons of PCB contaminated soil and one buried drum of liquid waste. After the excavation/removal work was completed, clean fill, top soil, regrading, vegetation and young trees were added to give the site a park-like appearance. Site Repository Beverly Municipal Building, Broad Street, Beverly, NJ 08010 COSDEN CHEMICAL CORP. 3 May 2002 ------- |