Office of Site Remediation 

Enforcement (2271A) 

Washington, DC 20460 

Fall 2004 

EPA 300-N-04-007 

Issue #18 

cleanupnews 

Printed on recycled paper 

Rocky Flats 2 

New NPL Sites 3 

Green Building SEPs 

Oregon Metallurgical 4 

Ultra Scientific 

2002 TRI Data 5 

New ATF Building 

In the Courts 6 

United Airlines Violations 

US v. JG-24 

Tidbits 7 

New Bedford Facility Opens 

Correction 

Calendar 8 

Glossary 

CleanupNews is a quarterly 

newsletter highlighting hazardous 

waste cleanup cases, policies, 

settlements and technologies. 

inside EPA Region 10 

Administrator Iani Resigns 

O n July 21, EPA Region 10 

Administrator John Iani 

announced he was resigning and returning to practicing law. 

The resignation became effective 

August 7. Ron Kreizenbeck, the 

Deputy Administrator for Region 

10, is serving as Acting Administrator pending appointment of a replacement. 

Iani was appointed by President 

Bush in September 2001 and spent 

his three years as Administrator 

tackling oil and gas exploration issues, sewage issues in Portland, and 

metals contamination in Lake 

Roosevelt. One of his most significant accomplishments was the signing of a Record of Decision (ROD) 

outlining a cleanup plan for part of 

the Bunker Hill Superfund site in 

the Coeur D’Alene River Basin of 

Idaho. Iani worked toward consensus on the ROD by bringing together 

local governments, environmental 

groups, the governors of Washington and Idaho, and state congressional delegations. 

Prior to serving as Administrator, 

Iani was the Vice President for Corporate Affairs and General Counsel at UniSea Corporation, a large 

seafood company, and served as 

President of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association. 

For additional information, contact Bill

Dunbar, EPA Region 10, (206) 553-1203.

Portfields Project Gets 

$5 Million Boost 

Massachusetts Lieutenant 

Governor Kerry Healey 

announced a $5 million 

state grant for improving New 

Bedford Harbor on August 5. The 

City of New Bedford and Town of 

Fairhaven will use the money for 

navigational dredging, one of the 

Portfields objectives for the harbor. 

Removing the silt that has gradually filled in the area over the years 

will allow larger vessels to navigate 

more easily. The state recognized 

the incredible value of dredging to 

improving use of the harbor and encouraging future business growth. 

continued on page 7

New Bedford is one of the busiest 

ports on the Eastern seaboard and 

a thriving area for the seafood processing industry. 

New Bedford is one of three pilot 

sites selected through the Portfields 

Initiative, an interagency agreement between the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration 

(which is the lead agency), EPA, the 

US Army Corps of Engineers, and 

other federal agencies to redevelop 

brownfields located in and around 

ports. Portfields developed out of 

the 2002 Brownfields Federal 

Partnership Action Agenda, a 
2 cleanupnews 

Rocky Flats Building Demolished 

O n July 15, Building 771 on 

 the Rocky Flats site was dismantled after a 10-year decontamination and removal process. The 

building had once been so contaminated with hazardous and radioactive 

waste that the media referred to it as 

“the most dangerous building in 

America.” DOE Secretary Spencer 

Abraham referred to the demolition 

as “a historic milestone in closing 

Rocky Flats and the most significant 

cleanup accomplishment to date in the 

DOE complex.” 

The 175,000-square-foot 

building was one of the 

original four manufacturing 

buildings constructed on the 

site. Starting in May 1953, 

Building 771 produced components for plutonium 

weapons and recovered plutonium from recycled materials. Once other buildings 

were constructed, Building 

771 was used solely for plutonium recovery. On September 11, 1957, a fire ignited in a plutonium residue can. The fire spread 

to the building’s second 

floor where vapors collecting 

in the main exhaust 

duct exploded, spreading 

plutonium 

contamination 

throughout 

the building. 

In 1989, production activities ceased 

due to safety 

and environmental concerns, and the 

site was added 

to EPA’s National Priorities 

List. Building 

771 is the second of five facilities that contained plutonium contamination to be demolished at the site and the first major 

building of its type and magnitude to 

ever be decommissioned. Over the next 

18 months, DOE plans to decommission, demolish, and complete environmental remediation at approximately 

450 structures and facilities within 

the Rocky Flats Site. 

The 6,000-acre Rocky Flats site is 

located just 16 miles from Denver, 

Colorado. Original estimates for the 

Crews work to demolish a building at Rocky Flats.

“More than half of the

805 buildings/

structures onsite have

been demolished.”

cleanup were that it would take 

65 years to complete and cost taxpayers over $36 billion. Through 

streamlining efforts by the contractor, Kaiser-Hill Company, the site is 

on an accelerated cleanup schedule. 

Current estimates are that the site 

will close in 2006 at a cost of $7 billion. An article about the accelerated 

cleanup plan for Rocky Flats appeared in the Spring 2003 issue of 

CleanupNews, available online at: 

http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/ 

resources/newsletters/cleanup/ 

cleanup12.pdf. 

The accelerated cleanup plan and 

details about the cleanup to date are 

available on the Rocky Flats Closure 

Project website at: 

http://www.rfets.gov/doe. 

 For additional information, contact Bill

Badger, Kaiser-Hill, (303) 966-5754.

Plutonium contamination requires the wearing of safety equipment as buildings are

demolished.

Highlights 
cleanupnews 3 

Sites Added to National Priorities List 

EPA added nine new sites to the 

Superfund National Priorities 

List (NPL) on July 22. The new sites 

are: Jacobsville Neighborhood Soil 

Contamination, Evansville, IN; Annapolis Lead Mine, Annapolis, MO; 

Picayune Wood Treating, Picayune, 

MS; Grants Chlorinated Solvents 

Plume, Grants, NM; Diaz Chemical 

Corporation, Holley, NY; Peninsula 

Boulevard Groundwater Plume, 

Hewlett, NY; Ryeland Road Arsenic, 

Heidelberg Township, PA; Cidra 

Ground Water Contamination, Cidra, 

PR; and Pike Hill Copper Mine, 

Corinth, VT. 

Some of the highlights include the 

Annapolis Lead Mine, an inactive 

mine in Annapolis, Missouri where 

lead-containing ore was mined between 1920 and 1940. Over one million tons of waste were generated during that time. The site was added to 

the NPL due to heavy metal contamination on the property and in a nearby 

wetland. At the Cidra Ground Water 

Contamination site in Cidra, Puerto 

Rico, volatile organic compounds from 

an unknown source have contaminated 

groundwater. Between March 1996 

and August 2000, four public supply 

wells had to be closed by the Puerto 

Rico Department of Health due to contamination. EPA Region 2 conducted 

Expanded Site Inspections in 2002 and 

2003 and determined that five industrial sites were potential sources of the 

contamination. 

The Diaz Chemical Corporation in 

Holley, New York is a former chemical 

manufacturing facility known to be responsible for multiple hazardous 

waste releases into a nearby community. In January 2002, an overheated 

reactor vessel ruptured at the Diaz facility causing the unintended release 

of chemicals. As a result, drops of 

2-chloro-6-fluorophenol fell in a residential area over a quarter mile from 

the facility, and some local residents 

had to be relocated. Among several 

response activities associated with 

this release, EPA continues to provide relocation assistance to the displaced residents. As of July 2004, 

EPA had removed 2,400 drums and 

40,000 gallons of bulk chemicals 

abandoned when the company declared bankruptcy in June 2003. 

First published in September 1983, 

the NPL identifies hazardous waste 

sites that EPA has determined pose 

the greatest risk to human health and 

the environment. There are currently 

1,245 sites on the NPL, and 56 sites 

are waiting to be finalized. 

Additional information about the new

NPL sites is available through the

Superfund website at: http://

www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/

newfin.htm.

Green Building Supplemental 

Environmental Projects 

by K.C. Schefski, Office of Site Remediation Enforcement

O n July 27, 2004, the Office of 

Site Remediation Enforcement and the Office of Regulatory Enforcement jointly issued a fact sheet 

entitled, “Supplemental Environmental Projects: Green Building on Contaminated Properties.” This fact 

sheet provides information on supplemental environmental 

projects (SEPs) that 

can serve to prevent 

and minimize the environmental impacts 

associated with redeveloping former 

contaminated properties. The fact 

sheet explains the environmental impacts associated with buildings, summarizes the “green building SEP on 

the SEP's value is considered when 

the amount of a final cash penalty is 

being determined. SEPs enhance the 

environmental quality of communities that have been put at risk by violations. While penalties play an important role in deterring environmental and public health violations, 

SEPs can play an additional role in 

securing significant environmental 

and public health protection and 

improvement. 

A green building SEP would address one or more sources of pollution 

typically generated by a building or 

construction project. A green building SEP would involve an environmental violator agreeing to support and 

contaminated properties” concept, and 

provides resources and suggestions for 

pursuing a green building SEP. The 

fact sheet is part of Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance’s 

comprehensive effort to identify and 

develop incentives for environmentally 

responsible redevelopment and 

reuse of contaminated properties 

(ER3). 

A SEP is an 

environmentally 

beneficial project a defendant/respondent agrees to undertake in settlement 

of a civil penalty action, but that the 

party is not otherwise legally required 

to perform. In return, a percentage of continued on page 7

“Green building SEPs

address pollution

sources from building

or construction.”

In The Spotlight 
4 cleanupnews 

Rhode Island Company to Pay $500,000 Rhode Island Company to Pay $500,000

On June 30, Oregon Metallurgical Corporation of Albany, Oregon 

agreed to pay EPA $250,000 and complete two Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) worth nearly 

$500,000 to resolve several Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act 

(RCRA) violations. Oregon Metallurgical is completing the SEPs—environmentally-beneficial projects—in 

exchange for a reduction in penalty. 

The SEPs Oregon Metallurgical has 

agreed to complete will both reduce 

the amount of hazardous waste produced by the facility and conserve wetlands. The first SEP calls for the termination of a titanium chip washing 

process that creates a hazardous acid. 

Instead, the corporation will use a supplier that sells chips cleaned using a 

non-hazardous process. The second 

SEP requires that an Oregon Metallurgical affiliate, TDY Industries Inc., 

Oregon Metallur on Metallurgical to Complete SEPs gical to Complete SEPs

Valued a alued at $500,000

egon Metallurgical to Complete SEPs gical to Complete SEPs

Valued at $500,000 t $500,000

deed twelve acres of land at its 

Millersburg, Oregon facility to the 

City of Albany. The land, which 

runs along the Willamette River, 

has been used for wastewater 

treatment and other industrial 

activities. According to the agreement, part of the land will be protected as wetlands and the rest will 

be used to extend the existing area 

except as necessary or appropriate for 

maintenance and research. Oregon 

Metallurgical will reimburse its affiliate for the donation of this land. 

The RCRA violations Oregon Metallurgical is resolving through the compliance agreement were identified during an April 2000 EPA inspection, which 

was conducted at the request of the Oregon Department of Environmental 

Quality. Inspectors found that the facility had been operating a hazardous 

waste surface impoundment, or acid 

sump, without a permit for at least five 

years; operating an acid spray pad without a permit for at least five years; storing an open and unmarked container of 

sulfuric acid; and storing hazardous 

waste containers without sufficient 

aisle space. 

For additional information, contact Kevin

Schanilec, EPA Region 10, (206) 553-1061.

Ultra Scientific, Inc., a chemical 

standards laboratory in North 

Kingstown, Rhode Island, will pay a 

$500,000 penalty for hazardous 

waste handling violations at its 

Quonset Point Industrial Park facility, EPA announced on July 7. An 

August 2002 inspection of the facility by EPA and the Rhode Island 

Department of Environmental Management (DEM) uncovered numerous 

violations. A follow-up inspection, 

requested by the DEM, took place in 

September 2002 and revealed that 

the company had not addressed violations identified during the first 

inspection. During the second inspection, fire safety code violations 

were also identified by the North 

Kingston fire department and 

building officials. 

The federal and state hazardous 

waste management violations 

discovered included operating a 

treatment facility without a 

permit, improper labeling of waste 

containers, open containers, and 

lack of employee training in 

hazardous waste management 

methods. EPA and RI DEM also 

discovered that chemicals had been 

improperly stored outside the 

building resulting in exposure to extreme temperatures and the co-storing of several incompatible wastes 

that can ignite or produce toxic gas if 

mixed. 

Following the inspection, over 80 

gallons and 400 pounds of toxic chemicals were removed and properly disposed of to protect human health and 

the environment. 

Enforcement News 

“SEPs are

environmentallybeneficial projects that

EPA considers when

calculating a penalty.”

parkland and hiking trail. The conservation agreement specifically 

prevents the land from being altered through processes such as 

removal of soil, trees, or vegetation, 

"EPA and RI DEM

identified numerous

violations at the

facility."
cleanupnews 5 

Annual Toxics Release In elease Inventory Issued y Issued y Issuedy Issued y Issued

On June 23, EPA released the 

2002 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) 

data. The TRI tracks the release of 

over 650 toxic chemicals to air, water, or land by facilities, including 

through disposal and other methods 

of release (e.g., air emissions). According to the 2002 data, over 24,000 

facilities released 4.8 billion pounds 

of TRI chemicals. 

The public can download the 2002 

TRI data at: http://www.epa.gov/tri/ 

tridata/index.htm or search the data 

using TRI Explorer. TRI Explorer is 

accessible at: http://www.epa.gov/ 

triexplorer and allows users to search 

by geographic area, facility, or chemical and view a variety of reports. TRI 

Explorer also provides state fact 

sheets for each of the states. The fact 

sheets offer detailed information 

about each state's releases and an interactive map for users to get additional details by county. 

The TRI Program was established 

through the Emergency Planning and 

Community Right-to-Know Act of 

1986 (EPCRA), which aims to inform 

the public of chemical hazards in their 

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New ATF Building to 

Stand on Old LUST 

Site in DC 

On July 26, several OUST staff and OSWER interns visited an old leaking underground storage tank site undergoing remediation in the northeast section of the District of Columbia. Five USTs had been removed from 

the site in 1991, and the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons and other contaminants was discovered over much 

of the site. A remediation system is in place, and the DC 

UST program is working with the U.S. General Services 

Administration to clean up and prepare the site to become the new national headquarters of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). 

The building planned for the site is projected to house 

approximately 1,100 ATF personnel and open in 2005. 

community. Under EPCRA, facilities 

that release significant amounts of 

certain types of toxic chemicals are 

required to track these releases and 

provide the data to EPA. EPA publishes this data to inform citizens of 

toxic chemical management practices 

in their community and to encourage 

companies to properly manage toxic 

chemicals. 

OSWER News 
United Airlines Agrees to Pay $850,000 for Violations 

In The Courts 

6 cleanupnews 

Court Grants Full Recovery and Assesses Penalties 

Against Fiberglass Manufacturer 

by David Dowton, Office of Site Remediation Enforcement

The district court for Puerto Rico 

has awarded the United States 

roughly $3 million in response costs 

and has assessed over $1 million in 

penalties for RCRA and CERCLA violations at the J&G and Cataño sites 

(2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16000). 

After a preliminary inspection of the 

site revealed leaking drums, EPA 

made a number of attempts to obtain 

voluntary access to undertake a more 

comprehensive inspection and perform 

initial sampling. EPA’s efforts were 

unsuccessful. Access was eventually 

obtained via a warrant and an inventory of stored hazardous substances, 

and an initial sampling was performed. Later EPA issued an administrative order directing defendants to 

comply with EPA’s request for access. 

EPA also issued the defendants a 

RCRA information request seeking 

detailed information of the materials 

used on site. The defendants failed to 

comply with either the order or the information request. 

With defendants refusing to comply 

with EPA’s order, access was once again 

obtained via a warrant. Subsequent 

inspection of the sites found hundreds 

of drums containing hazardous substances haphazardly stored. Many 

drums were in a deteriorated state and 

were leaking. Sampling indicated that 

a number of drums were leaking acetone, styrene, and arsenic among 

other things. The material in many 

drums was also considered a RCRA 

hazardous waste because of its low 

flash point. Based on the site investigation and sampling, EPA determined 

that a removal action was appropriate. The Agency incurred roughly 

$3 million in excavating the drums and 

contaminated soil and transporting it 

for off-site disposal. The United 

States brought suit seeking recovery 

of all response costs as well as the civil 

penalties for failure to comply with 

various provisions of CERCLA and 

RCRA. 

On July 12, EPA announced that 

United Airlines, Inc. will pay an 

$850,000 civil penalty for hazardous 

waste violations observed at its San 

Francisco International Airport aircraft maintenance facility. In addition, 

United and EPA created an environmental compliance management system to help achieve ongoing compliance with hazardous waste regulations. 

The violations, which were uncovered through EPA inspections in 1999 

and 2001, spanned both state and federal hazardous waste laws. The isFinding that EPA’s removal action was not arbitrary and capricious and was not inconsistent 

with the NCP, the court awarded 

the United States all response 

costs including sampling and investigation costs and indirect 

costs. In addition, the court assessed a penalty of $750,000 for 

various RCRA violations including the storage and disposal of 

RCRA hazardous wastes without 

a permit. The court found that 

the defendant’s failure to provide 

access to the sites was a violation 

under Section 104 of CERCLA and 

assessed a $102,000 penalty. Finally, the court assessed the defendants a penalty of $263,200 for 

failure to comply with the RCRA 

information request. The court 

also found that the defendants are 

still obligated to respond to the 

request and ordered the defendants to comply with the information request within 30 days. 

An open oil/solvent 50-gallon drum.

sues found included 

open hazardous waste 

containers, improperly labeled hazardous waste containers, 

and storage of hazardous waste for 

longer than legally 

permitted. 

For additional

information, contact

Cameron McDonald,

EPA Region 9,

(415) 972-3308.
cleanupnews 7 

A 

Tidbits 

t the New Bedford press 

conference to announce the 

state’s new Portfields 

grant, EPA Region 1 Deputy Administrator Ira Leighton marked the 

opening of EPA’s new $25 million 

sludge dewatering facility that is critical to the PCB cleanup of New 

Bedford Harbor. The facility will receive desanded sediments from another facility through submerged pipelines. The water will then be extracted, treated to stringent standards, and pumped back into the harbor. The remaining dewatered sediment will be properly disposed of either through landfilling at an approved facility or in a confined disposal facility along the shoreline. Approximately 900,000 cubic yards of 

sediments will be removed from the 

harbor and treated by the facility. 

Dredging is scheduled to start within 

a month of the announcement. Once 

the harbor dredging is complete, EPA 

Green Buildings, continued from page 3

use green building technologies at the 

redevelopment of a nearby contaminated property in exchange for penalty 

mitigation credit. The violations may 

arise under a variety of statutory authorities, and the SEP will generally 

take place on property not owned by 

the violator. For example, a company 

with air violations located in the vicinity of a brownfield redevelopment 

could purchase energy efficient materials/systems or low VOC emitting 

materials for the redeveloper to help 

minimize air emissions from the new 

development. 

The fact sheet is available online at: 

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/cleanup/brownfields/ 

sep-redev-fs.pdf. 

For additional information, contact

K.C. Schefski, Office of Site Remediation

Enforcement, (202) 564-8213.

EPA Opens Ne A Opens New Bedford Facility acility acility acility

will turn the sludge dewatering facility, pier, and rail spur over to the city 

for its use. 

New Bedford Harbor has been on 

EPA’s National Priorities List since 

1983. From the 1940s to the 70s, two 

electrical component manufacturing 

plants dumped PCB waste directly 

into the harbor creating widespread 

contamination. Fish and lobster advisories have been posted to protect 

human health. 

To date, EPA has spent over $189 

million on planning and engineering 

the remedy for New Bedford. 

Correction: The above photo appeared in CleanupNews Summer 2004

with the National Corrective Action Conference article. The caption with 

the photo incorrectly stated that Dwight Bedsole is with Dow Chemical 

Company. He is with Dupont Engineering. 

Correction 

Portfield, continued from page 1

commitment by federal agencies to 

work together to more effectively redevelop brownfields. 

The New Bedford dredging project 

will involve dredging sediments with 

contamination levels below Superfund 

levels. 

The Portfields fact sheet for New 

Bedford is available through the 

NOAA website at: 

http://www.brownfields.noaa.gov/pdf/ 

nb_projects_1pager.pdf 

EPA's new sludge dewatering facility at New Bedford.
Glossary 

cleanupnews 

September 20-22, 2004 

Brownfields 2004: "Gateway to 

Revitalization" 

St. Louis, MO 

http://www.brownfields2004.org 

September 21-23, 2004 

Wastecon 2004 

Phoenix, AZ 

http://www.swana.org/sections/ 

wastecon/ 

October 7-8, 2004 

2004 ASTSWMO Annual 

Meeting 

Arlington, VA 

http://www.astswmo.org 

calendar 

CleanupNews is a publication of EPA’s Office of Site Remediation Enforcement, in 

cooperation with the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, 

Office of Underground Storage Tanks, and Office of Emergency Prevention, 

Preparedness and Response. CleanupNews II is an electronic supplement to the 

CleanupNews print edition. The print issue is available four times a year, and the 

newsletter will be delivered electronically eight times a year (four issues consisting of the 

print edition and four issues consisting of supplemental news). Past issues of CleanupNews can be 

found at: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/newsletters/cleanup/cleanupnews.html

To comment on the newsletter contact Richard W. Popino, PhD REM, at MC-2271A, U.S. EPA, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, email:popino.rick@epa.gov. 

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listserv/cleanup.html.

Richard W. Popino, PhD REM, Editor in Chief 

EPA Review Board; Diane Bartosh, Paul Connor, 

Sandra Connors, Karen Ellenberger, Elliott 

Gilberg, Jeff Heimerman, Kenneth Patterson, Neilima 

Senjalia, Suzanne Wells 

Christine Rueter, Jami Habluetzel, and Anne Politis, 

DPRA Inc., writers 

Ruth Colville, 

DPRA Inc., designer 

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/about/offices/osre.html 

United States 

Environmental 

Protection Agency 

(2771A) 

Washington, DC 20460 

Official Business 

Penalty for Private Use 

$300 

FIRST CLASS 

POSTAGE & FEES PAID 

EPA 

G-35 PERMIT NO.

ATF Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 

Explosives 

DOE Department of Energy 

EPCRA Emergency Planning and Community 

Right-to-Know Act 

ER3 Environmentally responsible redevelopment 

and reuse 

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

NPL National Priorities List 

OSRE Office of Site Remediation Enforcement 

OSWER Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 

Response 

OUST Office of Underground Storage Tanks 

PCB Polychlorinated biphenyls 

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

RI DEM Rhode Island Department of 

Environmental Management 

ROD Record of Decision 

SEP Supplemental Environmental Project 

TRI Toxics Release Inventory 

UST Underground storage tank 

VOC Volatile organic compound