* * CALCASIEU ESTUAR Y i 1 REGION 6 DIVISION Lit ' SITE UPDATE INFORMATION BULLETIN \ c/ Arkansas Louisiana New Mexico Oklahoma and Texas May 2002 INTRODUCTION This bulletin is being provided to update community members and the public on several activities in the Calcasieu Parish. It is part of a series of information bulletins issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 to keep the community and the public informed about activities in the area. Communication In addition to information bulletins such as this one, EPA will conduct meetings in the community to share information, answer questions, and hear from the citizens. All studies will be published on the EPA website and available at the Lake Charles Library repository. The community relations outreach office is located at 110 West Prien Lake Road in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The office hours: Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Thursday 3:00 p.m. -8:00 p.m. Saturday 9:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (337)562-9801 SUPERFUND DIVISION On February 15, 2002, the EPA Region 6 signed an Administrative Order on Consent with Conoco Inc. and Sasol North America, Inc. to perform an Engineering Evaluation and Cost Analysis (EE/CA) for the Bayou Verdine area of concern. Under the agreement, Conoco and Sasol will evaluate alternatives to address the contamination in Bayou Verdine. The evaluation is expected to be complete in the Summer 2002. We will hold an informational meeting to discuss the alternatives. EPA contractors continue to work on the reports for the estuary study. Considerable efforts have been spent to ensure that all the data used in the risk evaluations is accurate. This effort has delayed the expected completion date of the reports until later this summer. EPA will release a full version of the database in Summer 2002. COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE AND ENFORCEMENT DIVISION Calcasieu Parish Air Sampling Project: A comprehensive air sampling project was initiated last January in Calcasieu Parish in response to elevated blood dioxin levels found in some residents of Mossville, Louisiana. Samples were collected from five sites in Calcasieu Parish and were analyzed for dioxins, furans, and coplanar PCBs. All data from this sampling effort have been posted on the LDEQ web site. In an effort to gain more seasonal data on dioxins and dioxin-like compounds in the Calcasieu Parish communities, the Lake Area Industry Alliance and the EPA have combined resources to collect an additional sample in the Mossville community. Data from this sampling event will be added to the year of data already collected to gain a better understanding of ambient concentrations of dioxins in the air in Calcasieu Parish. ------- To access the data from this project, please visit: http://www.deq.state.la.us/evaluation/calcasi eu/data.htm Jennifer Gibbs (214) 665-7347 and Mark Hansen (214) 665-7548. WATER QUALITY PROTECTION DIVISION DRINKING WATER Annual sampling for volatile organic compounds continues at selected public drinking water supplies in the Lake Charles Industrial area. This exceeds the minimum sampling frequency of once every three years for these compounds. Monitoring results indicate no detection of contamination and results of these tests are available at the Calcasieu Estuary Repository, located at the main library in Lake Charles. Public drinking water supplies are preparing their 2001 Consumer Confidence Reports and will make them available to the public in July. These reports, required annually, contain information about any chemical detected in drinking water. If standards are exceeded, important public health information is required to be distributed to the public. Also, information about water treatment techniques used and source water protection efforts will be included in the reports. Drinking water section staff at EPA Region 6 attended meetings by the Calcasieu Community Health & Environmental Forum during the past year. More recently, EPA staff from the Drinking Water Section and RCRA attended the March 12, 2002, meeting which focused upon the characteristics of the Chicot Aquifer and recent monitoring results from RCRA sites in Calcasieu Parish. Contacts: EPA Drinking Water Section: James Brown, Section Chief 214-665-7155 David Reazin, Environmental Scientist 214- 665-7501 Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals: Karen Irion, Chief Deputy Engineer 225- 765-5054 Mike Daigle, Engineer, Region V 337-491- 2149 ------- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION If you have questions about EPA or the INFORMATION REPOSITORIES Calcasieu Estuary Project, please contact: Calcasieu Parish Library John Meyer Central Branch Remedial Project Manager 301 West Claude Street U.S. EPA Region 6 (6SF-LP) Lake Charles, LA 70605 1445 Ross Avenue (318) 475-8792 (Reference) Dallas, TX 75202-2733 (214) 665-6742 Louisiana Department of (800) 533-3508 Toll free Environmental Quality - Inactive and Abandoned Sites Duane Wilson 7290 Bluebonnet Boulevard Louisiana Department of Environmental Baton Rouge, LA 70810 Quality (225) 765-0428 or 1-888-763-5424 7290 Bluebonnet Boulevard Baton Rouge, LA 70810 U.S. Environmental Protection (225) 765-0463 Agency 1445 Ross Avenue, 12th Floor Janetta Coats Dallas, TX 75202 Community Involvement Coordinator (214) 665-2424 U.S. EPA Region 6 (SF-PO) 1445 Ross Avenue ON THE WEB.... Dallas, TX 75202-2733 U.S. EPA HO: http://www/epa.eov (214)665-7308 U.S. EPA Region 6: (800) 533-3508 Toll free http ://www. epa. eov/earth 1 r6 For the latest status of other EPA Media questions should be directed to U.S. program activities within the Calcasieu EPA, Region 6, Office of External Affairs, at Estuary, please visit the Calcasieu Home (214) 665-2200. Page: http://www.epa.aov/reaion6/calcasieu ------- |