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Petro Processors, Inc.

SUPERFUND
SITE UPDATE

November 10, 1994

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An EPA Update on Activities at
the Petro Processors, Inc. Superfund site
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

Site Activities

The following schedule outlines
activities for completion and
start-up operations of the new
treatment facility:

Construction of treatment
facilities - Completed June 2,
1994.

Refractory Cure of incinerator

- Completed June 17,1994.

This "curing" period involved
heating up the refractory to
temperatures necessary for
testing and operations at a later
date.

Review and Agencies'
Approval of Compliance Test
Plan for Incineration of fumes
from the Air Strippers -

Completed June 3,1994.
The Compliance Test was
conducted according to this
plan to demonstrate the
operational capability of the
incinerator under worst case
conditions for the fume mode
operation.

PRPs' submit Trial Burn Plan
for Incineration of liquids
recovered from the ground
water - Completed June 6,1994.
The Trial Burn demonstrates the
incinerator functions under
worst case conditions.

Compliance Test for fume mode
operation of incinerator -

Completed July 29,1994.

EPA and LDEQ complete
review of Trial Burn Plan -

Completed September, 1994.

EPA and LDEQ Trial Burn
Plan Approval - Completed
October, 1994.

Trial burn for liquid mode
operation of incinerator -

Scheduled for November 7 -
November 11,1994.

Site Background

The Petro Processors, Inc. (PPI)
site is composed of two
disposal areas, known as Scenic
Highway and Brooklawn,
covering an area of 62 acres.
Petro Processors, Inc. received
waste from a number of

This Site Update

Will Tell You

About:

•	The progress and
current status of
site activities;

•	The background of the

MM——

•	Where to obtain more
information about the
site.

industries from 1961 through
1980. Chlorinated
hydrocarbons, polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
heavy metals and oils
contaminate the ground water,
soil, and surface water.

The potentially responsible
parties (PRPs), signed a
Consent Decree in 1984 to
investigate, design and
implement remedial programs.


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Site Location

Area #/: Scenic Highway Site,	Area #2: Brooklawn Site, about 2

just west of US Highway 61 and	miles west, southwest of Scenic

north of intersection of Scenic	Site.

Highway 964.

The PRPs formed a company
named NPC Services, Inc.,
(NPC) to represent the various
PRP companies in remediating
the site and in coordination
efforts with federal and state
agencies. NPC is responsible
for conducting all remedial
activities at the site. Initial
studies on the site were
completed in 1986, with
additional studies continuing as
the remedy is implemented.
A remedial action for the site
began in the summer of 1987
and was to include excavating
wastes, contaminated soils and
debris from the Brooklawn and
Scenic Highway areas, and from
parts of Bayou Baton Rouge,
with all to be placed in a special
waste vault near the site. Waste
excavation and stabilization
activities at the site conducted
in early December 1987 resulted
in air emission problems. All
waste handling activities ceased
in December 1987, and
remained shut down while EPA
and PRP company
representatives evaluated waste
handling operations needed to
eliminate the air emission
problems. Storm water
treatment facilities were
completed in the fall of 1987.
Site support facilities, roads,
bridges, levees are being built as
needed.

The Consent Decree was
amended in August 1989 to
provide for more aggressive
hydraulic containment and
recovery of contamination.

The revised groundwater
containment and recovery
remedy included the additional
recovery of liquid organics in
the former pit areas. The
groundwater remedy included
containing the migration of
contaminated groundwater by
pumping and removing free
phase organic chemicals known
as non-aqueous phase liquids
(NAPLs) from the recovered
groundwater. Contaminated
groundwater has been treated
on-site and discharged in
accordance with a National
Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES)

Permit, which is issued by
EPA.

To date, over 100 recovery
wells and 98 sumps have been
installed at the Brooklawn site.
An interim recovery facility has
been in operation since 1990
and the information obtained
was utilized for the design and
construction of a full scale
recovery facility to handle both
Brooklawn and Scenic Highway
contaminated groundwater.

NPC is currently operating the
interim recovery system which
actively removes non-aqueous
phase liquids (NAPLs) from the
groundwater. The contaminated
groundwater is being treated via
carbon adsorption and the
NAPLs recovered are stored

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Stack Emissions

Treatment Process Flow Diagram
Figure 1

onsite for later treatment at the
new onsite facility.

EPA and LDEQ have completed
review of the PRPs' design for
the liquid treatment and disposal
facility. The new system has
been designed to meet more
stringent water quality standards
required by the most recently
issued NPDES permit. The new
system includes a series of air
strippers followed by carbon
adsorption. Additionally, the
facility includes an onsite
incinerator to burn hazardous
organic vapors from the air
stripper and the NAPLs that
have been separated from the
recovered groundwater. The
system facility is presented
conceptually in Figure 1 on
page 3 of this update.

The Incineration
Process

Incineration is a thermal process
whereby the hazardous
materials are reduced to carbon
dioxide.

Incineration onsite was one of
three options originally
provided in the 1984 Consent
Decree for handling NAPLs
recovered from the ground
water. The first option was
abandoned in 1987 when waste
material could not be excavated,
stabilized, and placed in an
onsite landfill. The second
option was utilized, off-site
disposal at a commercial
facility,until storage capacity
onsite was constructed as part of
the LTADS project. Continuing

with the second option would
not be technically practical
given the need for a fume
incinerator as part of the
integrated treatment facility now
required to meet NPDES permit
requirements.

The incinerator has monitors
that continuously display the
status of the process to ensure
that operational parameters are
within allowable Federal and
State standards. Representatives
from EPA and LDEQ will make
periodic inspections to review
operations and evaluate progress
to ensure proper functioning of
the incinerator.

One of the main ways EPA
ensures that the incinerator
operates within required
parameters is by conducting a
trial burn. A trial burn

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demonstrates that the incinerator
is capable of four (4) nines, ie.
99.99%, Destruction and
Removal Efficiency (DRE).
DRE is a measurement of the
effectiveness of the combustion
process which is required to be
demonstrated during a trial bum;
EPA and LDEQ use this
information to evaluate the
overall combustion process.

Trial burn certification tests are
conducted under worst case,
rather than "ideal," operating
conditions. For example, the
incinerator may not be operated
with a feed rate greater than that
used during the trial burn, nor
may the firing temperature be

reduced below that used during
the trial burn. Limits on key
operating parameters (such as
temperatures and pressures) that
directly control the operation of
the incinerator will be set based
upon performance during the
DRE certification tests. These
key parameters can be measured
continuously and
instantaneously. Maintaining
conformance with these
parameters, plus compliance
with all the other requirements
established for the incinerator,
ensures that the emissions will
present no danger to human
health or the environment
throughout the remediation.

Technical
Assistance Grant

The Coalition for Community
Action has been awarded a
Technical Assistance Grant
(TAG) to hire a technical
advisor for independent
interpretation of the detailed
technical information about this
site. If you would like
information about this group,
contact Mary McCastle at (504)
775-9607.

Information Resources

Copies of documents related to the Petro Processors, Inc. Superfund site are available at the following

information repositories:

Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality

7920 Bluebonnet, 4 th floor
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809
(504) 765-0487

Alsen Community Center

393 Old Rafe Mayer Road
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70801
(504) 775-8584

U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 6
12th Floor Library
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733
(214) 655-6427, or
(214) 655-6424

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Additional Information

If you have any questions about the Petio Processors, Inc. Superfund site, please contact:

Cynthia Kaleri

Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA (6H-EA)
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733
(214) 665-6772 or
1-800-533-3508

David Weeks
Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA (6H-EA)
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733
(214) 665-6768 or
1-800-533-3508

Tom Stafford
Louisiana Department of Environmental
Quality (LDEQ)

Inactive and Abandoned Sites Div.
7920 Bluebonnet
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809
(504)765-0487

For more information on the public involvement process, please contact:

Melanie Ontiveros Lillard

Community Relations Coordinator
U.S. EPA (6H-MC)
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733
(214) 665-2294 or 1-800-533-3508

Tammy Guillotte
Louisiana Department of Environmental
Quality (LDEQ)

Inactive and Abandoned Sites Div.
7920 Bluebonnet
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809
(504)765-0487

o^r..

All media inquiries should be directed to
Dave Bary,

EPA Region 6 Press Officer
(214) 655-2200.

If you did not receive this fact sheet by mail and wish to be placed on the mailing list for the Petro
Processors , Inc. Superfund site, please fill out and mail this coupon to:

Environmental Protection Agency
Region 6
Community Relations (6H-MQ
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733

NAME	

AFFILIATION	

STREET 	

CITY, STATE & ZIP	

DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER

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Site Location

Area #J: Scenic Highway Site, just west of US
Highway 61 and north of intersection of Scenic
Highway 964.

t

Area #2
Brooklawn Site

Petro Processors

Area #2: Brooklawn Site, about 2 miles west,
southwest of Scenic Site.

SEPA

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 6 (6H-MC)

1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75202

First-Class Mail
Postage and Fees Paid
EPA

Permit No. G-35

Petro Processors, Inc. Superfund Site Update

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