ROBINTECH, INC./ NATIONAL COMPANY NEW YORK EPA ID# NYD002232957 PIPE EPA REGION 2 CONGRESSIONAL DIST. 26 Broome County Town of Vestal Site Description The Robintech, Inc./National Pipe Company site is an active manufacturing facility approximately 12 acres in size, in the Town of Vestal. The site was owned by Robinson Technical Products from 1966 to 1970, Robintech, Inc. from 1970 to 1982, and the Buffton Corporation from 1982 to the present1. The facility manufactures polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe from inert PVC resin. An effluent sample collected in 1984 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to verify discharge permit compliance found several volatile organic constituents (VOCs) that were not covered under the existing permit. Further investigation resulted in the conclusion that there was a source of elevated levels of VOC contamination coming from the ground water beneath the site. The site was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1986. Subsequent investigations determined that there were three areas of the site with heavily VOC-contaminated soils that were causing the ground water contamination. In addition to the organic contaminants detected in the ground water, the remedial investigation (RI) reported high levels of lead in soils and sediments, though subsequent sampling failed to show the presence of lead. Three municipal wells, serving the Vestal public water supply, are located about one-half mile from the site. An estimated 27,000 people reside within 3 miles of the site. The ground water in the area is used for municipal well water, with approximately 7,300 people dependent on the wells. Site Responsibility: This site is being addressed through NpL UST|NG HISTORY federal and potentially responsible parties' Proposed Date. 10/01/84 actions. Final Date: 06/01/86 1 Buffton Corporation changed its name to BFX Hospitality, Inc. in 1996. ROBINTECH, INC./NATIONAL PIPE COMPANY 1 July 2002 ------- Threats and Contaminants The ground water at the site is contaminated with VOCs, including 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethene, and toluene. Direct contact with or ingestion of contaminated ground water may pose a health risk. Soils and sediments were suspected to be contaminated with lead. Soil and sediment investigations on and downgradient of the site in order to assess potential health threats, completed in September 1992, failed to reveal any lead contamination or lead- related potential health threats. Cleanup Approach This site is being addressed in a single, long-term remedial phase that is focusing on the cleanup of the entire site. Response Action Status Entire Site: An RI and feasibility study (FS), the purpose of which was to determine the nature and extent of the contamination at and emanating from the site and to identify and evaluate remedial alternatives, was completed in 1992. Following the completion ofthe RI/FS, a Record of Decision (ROD) was signed (on March 30, 1992), selecting pumping and treatment of the contaminated bedrock and overburden ground water in three areas of the site. The results of a pre-design investigation, completed in August 1996, indicated that overburden ground water and subsurface soils were contaminated at levels much greater than those detected during the RI. In addition, the investigation identified the presence of a relatively low permeability overburden formation with extremely low ground water yield. Therefore, the extraction of contaminated ground water from the overburden formation (the remedy selected for the overburden formation in the 1992 ROD) was determined not to be feasible. In luly 1997, EPA completed a ROD stipulating changes to the ground water remedy selected in the 1992 ROD. The new remedy included excavation of the contaminated unsaturated and saturated soils, treatment via low temperature thermal desorption, and redeposition, along with continued pumping of the bedrock aquifer. The design of the selected remedy, which commenced in August 1998, was completed in September 1999, at which time construction began. Excavation, treatment, and backfilling of over 10,000 m ROBINTECH, INC./NATIONAL PIPE COMPANY 2 July 2002 ------- tons of soil from three areas of the site was completed in March 2001. The construction related to the equipment upgrade of the ground water remedy for the bedrock aquifer was completed in September 2001. Once operating, it became evident that the wells themselves would need to be redeveloped (i.e., removing unwanted materials and improving the flow of the surrounding aquifer to the well). It is anticipated that this effort will be completed by June 2002. Site Facts: In October 1987, EPA entered into an Administrative Order on Consent with General Indicator Group, Inc. (a successor of Robintech), Buffton Electronics (now named Electro-Mech, Inc.), and National Pipe Company to perform a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) at the site. In September 1992, a Unilateral Administrative Order was issued by EPA to the potentially responsible parties to design and implement the selected remedy. In June 1998, EPA entered into a Consent Decree with BFX Hospitality, Inc., the successor to Buffton Corporation, to implement the remedy selected in the March 1997 ROD. The Consent Decree was entered in U. S. District Court (approved by the Judge) on October 26, 1998. Cleanup Progress = (Construction Completed) After listing the site on the NPL, EPA conducted a preliminary evaluation of the conditions at the site and determined that no immediate actions were required to make the site safer while investigations leading to the implementation of a remedy were taking place. All excavation, treatment, and backfilling operations related to the source areas were completed as of the Summer 2001. All work related to the extraction of bedrock groundwater is anticipated to be complete as of the Summer 2002. Site Repositories Vestal Public Library, 320 Vestal Parkway E., Vestal, NY 13850 EPA Region II Superfund Records Center, 290 Broadway, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866 ROBINTECH, INC./NATIONAL PIPE COMPANY 3 July 2002 ------- |