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Explanation of Significant Differences 

Rogers Road Municipal Landfill Superfund Site 

Pulaski County, Arkansas 

United States 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Region 6 

Superfund Division 

August 2009 

9092846 

002375
ROGERS ROAD MUNICIPAL LANDFILL SUPERFUND SITE 

PULASKI COUNTY, ARKANSAS 

EXPLANATION OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES 

I. Introduction 

Site Name: Rogers Road Municipal Landfill, Superfund Site 

Site Location: Pulaski County, Arkansas 

Lead Agency: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 (EPA) 

Support Agency: Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) 

This decision document presents the Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) for the 

Rogers Road Municipal Landfill Superfund Site (Site), located in Pulaski County near the City 

of Jacksonville, Arkansas. The ESD is issued in accordance with Section 117(c) of the 

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 

42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq., as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 

1986 (SARA), and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 

(NCP), Section 300.435(c)(2)(i). The Director of the Superfund Division has been delegated the 

authority to sign this Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD). 

II. Statement of Purpose 

The EPA is issuing this ESD for the Rogers Road Municipal Landfill Superfund Site to 

document a change in the monitoring period for the wells at the Site from the standard 30 years 

to 4 years, as the contaminants of concern at the Site listed in the ROD (Equivalent of 2,3,7,8 -

TCDD, chlorophenols, herbicides, pesticides) were never detected in the four sampling events 

between 1994 and 1997. The monitoring period between 1994 and 1997 was after the completion 

of the Remedy recommended in the ROD. The Remedy was to remove source material ( soil 

contaminated with 2,3,7,8 - TCDD, chlorophenols, herbicides, pesticides) with contaminant 

concentrations above an action level and to cap remaining contaminants in place. Site security, 

groundwater monitoring, and institutional controls were also required. The absence of detection 

of the ROD contaminants of concern (COCs) established in four years that 1) the Remedy was 

working and 2) the COCs never reached the groundwater. The absence of the ROD COCs was 

due to removal of the source material. Based on the scientific data from the monitor wells at the 

Site, ADEQ suggested that further sampling (groundwater monitoring) was not necessary. 

ADEQ recommended that the appropriate solid waste regulating authority be notified of the low 

detects of non-Site related metals by the groundwater monitoring system and that monitoring be 

discontinued. EPA agreed with the ADEQ recommendation and discontinued monitoring after 

1997. 

Since the placement of Institutional Control was a part of the remedy, EPA believed that 

the IC issue had to be resolved (restrictive covenants and grant of easement) before the ESD 

was signed. The IC was delayed by long negotiations between the EPA attorney and the 

Jacksonville City attorney to assign the ownership of the property. Finally the heir to the 

property executed grant of easement and restrictive covenants in 2008. 

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III. Site Background and History 

The Site encompasses about 10 acres in Pulaski County, outside the city limits of Jacksonville, 

Arkansas, approximately 12 miles northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. An estimated 10,000 

people live within three miles of the Site and are supplied by municipal drinking water. Less 

than one-half mile west of the Rogers Road Municipal Landfill Superfund Site is the 

Jacksonville Municipal Landfill Superfund Site. Because of the proximity of the two sites and 

the similarities in their features and characteristics, the Superfund site-related activities were 

carried out concurrently. Within a one-half mile radius of the Site, the population was estimated 

between 153 and 204. Sometime prior to 1974, the residents of Rogers Road were supplied with 

municipal water by the City of Jacksonville. 

The City of Jacksonville purchased the land comprising the Rogers Road Landfill in September 

1953 and operated a municipal landfill on the property. Open burning and trenching were the 

primary methods of waste disposal used at the Site. The dates of operation of the Rogers Road 

Landfill remain a matter of dispute and varying testimony and representations in a number of 

judicial and administrative venues. However, it is undisputed that after October 1974, operation 

of the Rogers Road facility had ceased. The landfill was formally closed in July 1973, when the 

predecessor agency to the ADEQ, the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology, 

refused to grant a landfill permit, because of the high water table and poor drainage in the area. 

Specific waste types and quantities were not recorded by the Site owner/operators; however, 

in addition to municipal waste, several drums of industrial waste from a local herbicide 

manufacturer, Vertac Chemical Corporation (Vertac), were believed to have been disposed of in 

the landfill. On-site soil and about 30 decaying drums were found to be contaminated with 

dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo (P) dioxin expressed as 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents), the 

herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, and the pesticide dieldrin. 

In early 1986, the City of Jacksonville fenced the Site to prevent public access. The Site was 

added to the National Priorifies List (NPL) on July 22,1987. 

Response Actions 

The Remedial Investigation (RI) for the Site, which described the nature and extent of 

contamination, was released to the public in July 1990. The Feasibility Study (FS) was also 

released at this time. A 60-day public comment period began on July 9, 1990, and ended on 

September 7, 1990. In addition, a public meeting was held on July 18, 1990, to present the 

results of the RI/FS and to accept public comment. 

The EPA reviewed the results of the July 1990 RI/FS and all pubhc comments received. On 

September 27, 1990, a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Site, which included a number of 

construction elements to implement the Remedial Action, was issued. The EPA, the ADEQ, and 

the City of Jacksonville participated in the clean-up in accordance with a June 20, 1994, Consent 

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Decree (CD) between the EPA and the City of Jacksonville. 

The remedial action at the Site included: 

• Excavation of contaminated soil and debris containing greater than 10 parts per 

biUion (ppb) equivalent 2,3,7,8-TCDD and backfilling of the excavated area; 

• Transportation of the excavated material to the Vertac Chemical Corporation 

Superfund Site in Jacksonville, Arkansas; 

• Incineration of the excavated contaminated material and disposal of residuals at 

Vertac; 

• Steam-cleaning and disposal of large items of refuse removed from contaminated 

areas at the Rogers Road Municipal Landfill Site; 

• Covering soil, debris and waste meeting the criteria stated below with twelve 

inches of soil: 

1) 2,3,7,8-TCDD concentrafions >1.0 and <10 ppb, 

2) Cumulative Hazard Index >.7 for 2,4,5-T; 2,4,5 TP; and dieldrin; soils, debris 

and waste meeting the criteria would be either excavated or covered, or 

3) Dieldrin <37 ppb; Soils, debris and waste exceeding 37 ppb Dieldrin were 

excavated 

• Institutional controls such as fence maintenance and restricting the use of ground 

water; and, 

• Groundwater monitoring. 

Clean-up Standards and the Remedy 

The remedial action cleanup activities at the Site are consistent with the objectives of the NCP 

and will provide protection to human health and the environment. Specifically, confirmatory 

sampling conducted at the conclusion of the cleanup verified that the site has achieved the ROD 

cleanup standards: all contaminated soil and debris containing greater than 10 part per billion 

(ppb) equivalent 2,3,7,8-TCDD were excavated and all soil and debris with 2,3,7,8-TCDD 

concentrations >1.0 and <10 ppb, or with a Cumulative Hazard Index >.7 for 2,4,5-T; 2,4,5 TP 

and dieldrin were either excavated or covered with one foot of clean soil. In addition, no soil 

was left on-site with a dieldrin concentration above 37 ppb. Ground water samples taken in 

November 1994, June 1995, December 1995, October 1996, and November 1997, did not show 

dioxin contamination, nor did they show any site-related, statistically significant concentrations 

002378
of organic contaminants or inorganic (metals) contaminants above acceptable health-based 

levels. . 

The confirmatory sampling at the Site and backfilling of the Site with clean soil provide 

assurances that the Site will no longer pose a threat to human health or the environment as long 

as the institutional controls are enforced and the soil cover is maintained. The source of 

contaminants identified in the ROD, the disintegrating drums and adjacent contaminated soil, has 

been addressed through excavation and covering with a clean soil cover. The cleanup also 

eliminated the impacts to the ground water from the chemicals of concern at the Site (i.e., the 

possible source of contamination had been removed). 

At this time, the Site has been cleaned up to eliminate the exposure pathway by the remedy 

required by the ROD. Health concerns are adequately addressed by institutional controls. 

Institutional controls were required by the Site remedy and were imposed in 2008 in the form of 

an Environmental Protection Easement and Declaration of Restrictive Covenants recorded in 

Pulaski County, Arkansas. The property interest was conveyed by the Site owner to the City of 

Jacksonville with a third party beneficiary enforcement interest granted to the EPA. This 

instrument prevents disturbance of remedial components in the fenced, capped area of the Site, 

and it prohibits all residential, agricultural, food service, and ground water uses of that area as 

well. In addition, development of that area in any form not expressly prohibited, can only be 

undertaken with the prior notice to, and review and approval of, the EPA. Any ground water use 

within the greater twenty acre tract that includes the fenced area and adjoining areas is prohibited 

without prior notice and approval of the EPA, and no development of any kind can take place in 

that tract without 90 days prior notice to the EPA. These restrictions provide a significant 

margin of protection and a buffer for any potential exposure pathways. In addition, the 

institutional controls provide broad access rights to the Site for EPA for carrying out remedial 

maintenance, surveillance, inspection, investigation, and response, among other things. 

IV. Operation and Maintenance (O&M) 

Operations and maintenance (O&M) at the site consists of site inspections to confirm fence 

integrity, and maintenance of the soil cover. Site inspections show that the fencing is effectively 

preventing access to the site and site groundwater. Two five-year reviews were completed in 

September 2000 and September 2005. The second five-year review of the Rogers Road 

Municipal Landfill site ("site" or "Rogers Road site") was completed in September 2005. The 

results of the second five-year review indicate that the remedy is protective of human health and 

the environment. Overall, the remedial actions performed appear to be functioning as designed, 

and the site has been maintained appropriately. No deficiencies were noted that impact the 

protectiveness of the remedy 

Because no contaminants of concern defined by the Record of Decision were detected in the four 

years of annual groundwater monitoring, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality 

recommended discontinuing groundwater monitoring. EPA concurred that this recommendation 

was appropriate to implement, and ground water monitoring was stopped after 1997. The site 

was to be deleted from the NPL, but has been held up over the issue of institutional controls. 

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Counsel for EPA and the City of Jacksonville had correspondence and discussions over the issue 

during the period of 1999 through 2002. The issue was complicated by the fact that the site 

property was reported to be in private hands with no clear record of title among numerous 

potential heirs, and lengthy delay ensued. In September 2003, an action to acquire title to the 

site property, which the City Attomey had facilitated and assisted, was successfully concluded in 

state court. In August 2005, in consultation with the EPA Office of General Counsel, the EPA 

Region 6 attomey and the Jacksonville City Attomey renewed efforts to resolve the issue of 

enacting restrictive covenants. The grant of easement and the restrictive covenants as described 

in section III above was executed by the heir to the property and recorded in the deed records for 

the site on Febmary 29, 2008. Following the completion of the restrictive covenants, in July 

2008, ADEQ provided a letter of concurrence to EPA to delete the Site from the National 

Priorities List. 

V. Authorizing Signature 

This ESD documents the significant change related to changing the monitoring period of the 

groundwater monitor wells at the Site from thirty to four years due to the absence of the COCs 

defined in the ROD. This change effectively terminates any further groundwater monitoring 

requirement for the Site as of 1998. The change was recommended by the Arkansas Department 

of Environmental Quality and concurred in by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Date: S/?/a^^ 

Samuel Coleman, P.E. 

Director 

Superfund Division 

002380