H&mitton/Labree Roads

Environmental Protection	Groundwater Contamination

Agency

Region 10	Superfund

EPA Will Introduce Cleanup Proposal for Public Comment Later this Year

Chehalis, Washington	July 2012

Later this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency will offer the public an opportunity to
review and comment on a cleanup proposal for a
part of the Iiamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater
Superfund Site. This cleanup proposal is called a
Proposed Plan.

The part of the site is called the Hamilton Road
Impacted Area (HRIA). The Proposed Plan
will describe the cleanup alternatives that EPA
considered to address contamination within the
HRIA. The Proposed Plan will also identify our
preferred cleanup alternative and rationale for this
preference.

EPA will select a cleanup alternative for the HRIA
after considering all public comments. The final
selection will be documented in an Interim Record
of Decision. It is called "Interim" because EPA will
consider cleanup options for other areas of the site
after the HRIA cleanup action has taken place, and
additional site-wide data is collected.

The Hamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater
Contamination Superfund Site is located near the
intersection of North Hamilton Road and Labree
Road, west of Interstate 5, about two miles south of
Chehalis, Washington.

The site includes several areas where tetrachloro-
ethene (PCE) and other chemicals were released
onto soil and surface water, including the HRIA.
PCE is a chemical used for dry cleaning, metal de-
greasing and other industrial processes. PCE-con-
taminated groundwater from these areas flows west
and northwest along the Newaukum River Valley.

Many of the homes and businesses across the site
currently use drinking water from the City of
Chehalis public water supply system. However, if
the PCE is not cleaned up and the contaminated
groundwater continues to move down the val-
ley, residents and workers not on the public water
supply system may be at risk if they drink PCE-
contaminated groundwater.

Hamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site.
PCE-contaminated groundwater flows west and northwest from
several source areas at the site

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About the Hamilton Road

Impacted Area

The part of the site called the HRIA is a
10-acre area located along Interstate 5 and
North Hamilton Road. North Hamilton
Road and Berwick Creek, which flows
north, cross the HRIA from northwest to
southeast.

The source of contamination at the HRIA
appears to be a release of PCE directly into
Berwick Creek by an unknown entity. EPA
estimates that the release occurred before
but no later than 1990 and was between 100
and 700 gallons. PCE has contaminated
a silt layer in the bed of the creek and the
soil and groundwater of the shallow aquifer.
The PCE has continued to dissolve over
time. If not cleaned up, it will continue to
contaminate the groundwater for many

decades to come.

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Hamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater

Draft Site-Wide Cleanup
Studies Currently Available

In late 2011, EPA completed two draft reports on
the entire Hamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater
Contamination Superfund Site:

> the Remedial Investigation Report, which

describes the nature and extent of contamination
across the entire the site,
the Baseline Risk Assessment Report, which
evaluates current and potential future risks
to people's health and the environment from
contamination across the site

These draft documents are available at the
information repositories listed on the next page.
Additional investigations are required to finalize
these site-wide documents and prepare cleanup
options for other areas of the site outside of the
Hamilton Road Impacted Area. However, there is
enough valuable information in these draft reports
to proceed with cleanup options for the HRIA.

Contamination Superfund Site Update

(	\

Next

Based on the studies done to date, EPA has
determined there is enough reliable information
about the contamination at the HRIA to move
forward with

•	a Feasibility Study, which will evaluate
different cleanup alternatives for the HRIA

•	a Proposed Plan, which will identify EPA's
preferred cleanup alternative

These documents will be made available at
the information repositories when completed.
The public will have the opportunity to send
comments to EPA on the Proposed Plan.

EPA will respond to public comments and
select an interim cleanup action for the HRIA
in an Interim Record of Decision. Further
studies are needed to determine options for
cleaning up the rest of the site.

\	)

Site Studies and Past Cleanups

Contamination was first identified at the site in
1993-94, when the Washington State Department
of Health found six private water-supply wells con-
taminated with PCE. The Washington State De-
partment of Ecology started providing bottled water
to affected well owners, and began investigations to
determine the source of this contamination.

In 1998, two areas of contamination were
discovered at the site: the HRIA and an area
northwest of the HRIA on property owned by the
S.C. Breen Construction Company.

The Breen property covers about 11 acres and
is bounded by Interstate 5 to the east, North
Hamilton Road to the south, and Labree Road to
the west. In 1999, about 70 drums, pails and cans,
and 600 tons of PCE and petroleum-contaminated
soil were removed from under a building on the
Breen property.

In 2000, EPA added the site to its Superfund
National Priorities List of contaminated sites
selected for further investigation and cleanup.

Actions related to cleanup at the site take place
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act, also known
as Superfund.

From 2000 - 2002, EPA installed a new public
water supply line to homes and businesses whose
private wells were or could be contaminated with
PCE.

Since then, investigations suggest there are other
sources of contamination at the site. One of these
is the Thurman Berwick Creek Area, located west
of the HRIA and south of the Breen Property.
However, more data is needed to draw conclusions
about this area and other potential source areas.

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Hamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site Update



Other names for tetrachloroethene (PCE)
include tetrachloroethylene and perchloro-
ethylene. PCE is a chemical used for metal
degreasing, dry cleaning, and other industrial
processes. It can move easily through air, water
and soils and may harm people. EPA has
determined that tetrachloroethylene is carcino-
genic (causes cancer) in humans by all routes of
exposure (ingestion, inhalation, and dermal).

•	At high concentrations in air, particularly
in closed, poorly ventilated areas, exposures
can cause dizziness, headache, sleepiness,
confusion, nausea, difficulty in speaking and
walking, unconsciousness, and death.

•	At low levels in ambient air or drinking
water (below the drinking water standards),
risk of adverse health effects is minimal.

•	The Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)
for PCE has been set at 5 parts per billion.
EPA believes, given present technology and
resources, this is the lowest level to which
water systems can reasonably be required to
remove this contaminant should it occur in
drinking water.

• These drinking water standards, and the
regulations for ensuring these standards are
met, are called National Primary Drinking
Water Regulations. All public water sup-
plies must abide by these regulations.

MCL = Maximum
Contaminant Level

is the legal threshold limit on the amount of
a substance that is allowed in public water
systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The limit is usually expressed as a
concentration in milligrams per liter (parts
per million;) or micrograms per liter (parts per
billion) of water.

For more information about possible health
effects from PCE, see the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Diseases Registry web page at
http://l.usa.gov/PCE fact

Search under "T" for tetrachloroethylene or
go to

www, atsdr. cdc. gov/az/1. html

For More Information.

General Information

Debra Sherbina

Community Involvement Coordinator
(206) 553-0247 or toll free: (800) 424-4372
Sherbina.Debra@epa.gov

If you need materials in an alternative format,
please contact Debra Sherbina.

Technical Information

Tamara Langton
Project Manager

(206) 553-2709 or toll free: (800) 424-4372
Langton.Tamara@epa.gov

H TTY users please call the Federal Relay Service:
(800) 877-8339

Find information about this site at ;

Hamilton/Labree website: http://go.usa.gov/Ya4V
Chehalis Timberland Library	EPA Region 10

76 N.E. Park St., Chehalis, WA	Superfund Records Center

(360) 748-3301	(206) 553-4494 or toll free: (800) 424-4372

Callfor hours, Call for an appointment

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|-r|A '-,n'tec' States

Environmental Protection
Agency

Region 10

1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, ETPA-081
Seattle, Washington 98101-3140

July 2012

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Hamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater
Contamination Superfund Site

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Public Comment Later this Year

• About Tetrachloroethene (PCE)

Hamilton Labree HRIA Site Update July 2012_Rev_3_web.indd 9/28/12


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