*|EPA **'te Activities Update
United States
Environmental Protection Devil S Swamp Lake Site
Agency
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana May 2015
This Fact Sheet will tell you about...
•
SITE DESCRIPTION AND LOCATION
•
CONTAMINANTS OF CONCERN (COC)
•
SUPERFUND PROCESS, REMEDIAL
INVESTIGATION/FEASIBILITY STUDY
(RI/FS)
•
RI/FS PROGRESS
•
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
•
WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION
SITE DESCRIPTION AND LOCATION
Devil's Swamp Lake is a man-made, crescent-
shaped lake located on the Mississippi River
east bank floodplain, approximately ten miles
north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Shown on the
Site vicinity map included as Figure 1-1). The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers excavated the
lake in 1973 and 1974 to provide material for
levee construction along the north and west
sides of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge
Terminal (Baton Rouge Barge Harbor).
CONTAMINANTS OF CONCERN (COC)
The Devil's Swamp Lake Site (the Site) consists
of contaminated sediments within the Lake, and
a portion of Devil's Swamp adjoining the Lake
and associated wetlands.
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) have been
identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) as the primary COCs in the
sediment and in aquatic receptors in Devil's
Swamp Lake. In March 2004, the EPA identified
the commercial hazardous waste disposal
facility formerly operated by Rollins as the
apparent source of the Devil's Swamp Lake PCB
impact.
Page
SUPERFUND PROCESS, REMEDIAL
INVESTIGATION/FEASIBILITY STUDY (RI/FS)
The Site was proposed to be placed on the
National Priorities List (NPL) on March 8, 2004.
The EPA issued an order to the Potentially
Responsible Parties (PRPs) to characterize the
nature and extent of risks at the Site.
The Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) for
Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS)
for the Site was issued on December 3, 2009.
The UAO was issued to Baton Rouge Disposal,
LLC, by the EPA Region 6 and became effective
on December 18, 2009. This UAO orders the
PRP to plan and execute the RI/FS under the
authority of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of
1980 (CERCLA), with EPA's oversight.
The RI/FS process represents the methodology
for characterization of the nature and extent of
risks posed by potential constituents at a Site
and for evaluation of potential remedial
options. Nine criteria are used in the RI/FS
process during the evaluation of remedial
alternatives. These criteria include:
1. Overall protection of human health and the
environment;
2. Compliance with Applicable or Relevant and
Appropriate Requirements (ARARs);
3. Long-term effectiveness and permanence;
4. Reduction of toxicity, mobility, or volume
through treatment;
5. Short-term effectiveness;
6. Implementability;
7. Cost;
8. State acceptance;
9. Community acceptance.
-------
The purpose of a Rl Report is to describe the
methods, sample collection procedures, and
data analysis techniques used to conduct a Rl.
The Rl for the Site is being conducted in a tiered
approach consisting of two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier
2. The outline of the tiered approach follows:
Tier 1:
Initial characterization of the nature
and extent of PCBs at the Site
Determine if a Baseline Human Health
Risk Assessment (HHRA) is required by
identification of COCs and comparison
of concentrations of the constituents at
the Site with applicable screening
criteria
Conduct an initial ecological effects
evaluation through a Screening Level
Ecological Risk Assessment (SLERA)
Tier 2:
The Tier 2 Rl supplements the Tier 1 Rl results
with additional data and completion of a more
thorough evaluation of the pathways and
receptors identified as potentially at risk. The
Tier 2 Rl may include more than one phase of
field investigation. The Tier 2 Rl includes:
• Additional characterization of the
nature and extent of PCBs at the Site
• Completion of the Baseline HHRA
• Refinement of the understanding of
ecological effects through an Baseline
Ecological Risk Assessment (BERA)
(Superfund Process Figure 1.2)
RI/FS PROGRESS
A Final Preliminary Site Characterization Report
was submitted on May 21, 2010.
A Final Phase 1 or Tier 1 Rl Work Plan was
submitted on November 24, 2010. The Tier 1 Rl
sample collection activities were completed
during the weeks of January 17, 2011, and
January 24, 2011.
The Final Tier 1 Rl Report was submitted on
February 10, 2012.
A Final Tier 2 Rl Work Plan was submitted on
June 25, 2012.
The Tier 2 Rl sediment, soil, and fish tissue
sample collection activities were initiated in
July 2012, and crawfish sample collection was
not successful due to the Site conditions
encountered at that time.
Clean Harbors continued to monitor Site
conditions, including Mississippi River water
elevation, temperature and duration of
inundation, to evaluate potential suitability for
crawfish sample collection. Due to the high
proportion of crawfish collected outside of the
assessment area in 2013, additional crawfish
and sediment were re-sampled in May-June
2014. Crawfish were collected in the North
Devil's Swamp Lake Area of Interest (AOI).
The Analytical Data Assessment and Validation
Report for the 2014 additional crawfish sample
collection was submitted to the EPA on August
27, 2014.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
The Tier 2 Rl Report will be completed during
the summer of 2015. This document includes
the results of water, sediment, fish and crawfish
samples collected. It also presents an analysis
of what risks the contaminants of concern
present to people (human health risk
assessment) and the environment (ecological
risks), as represented by birds, fish, crawfish
and small animals such as raccoons or minks.
The EPA will use this information to establish
what future action will be required at the Site
The State, represented by the Louisiana
Department of the Environment Quality (LDEQ),
in coordination with the Louisiana Department
of Health and Hospitals, will conduct a
reassessment of the current fish consumption
advisory to identify if any new changes are
appropriate.
Page 2
-------
If future EPA actions are required, several
response alternatives will be developed,
evaluated as previously indicated, and
presented to the public in a Proposed Plan.
EPA will respond to comments prior to making
any final decision.
WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION
Bartolome J Canellas
EPA Superfund Remedial Project Manager
214.665.6662 or 1.800.533.3508 (toll-free)
Canellas.bart@epa.gov
Bill Little
EPA Community Involvement Coordinator/SEE
214.665.8131 or 1.800.533.3508 (toll-free)
Little.bill@epa.gov
Donn Walter
Regional Public Liaison
214.665.6483 or 1.800.533.3508 (toll-free)
Walters.donn@epa.gov
Keith Horn
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
225.219.3793 or 866.896.5337 (toll-free)
Keith.horn@la.gov
w Figure 1.1
Site Repository
Scotlandville Branch Library
7373 Scenic Hwy
Baton Rouge, LA 70807
All inquiries from the media should be directed
to: EPA Region 6 Press Office at 214.665.2200.
For additional information, please consult the
EPA Region 6 website:
http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/6sf-la.htm.
¦' ¦¦¦¦>¦. ¦
> V" »•»•¦#• * .
¦¦¦"V {!i
..~J
1*'
« swim* UKS MSA Of MVCSTKMnOM
*j» > mmm
&*mm \mwm 1
,l-- -j-T C
y>v- A *
/, ^ f I'l'Jll ^ mmmr
Figure 1.2
Page 3
-------
v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 6
1445 Ross Ave, (6SF-VO)
Dallas, TX 75202
------- |