OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460



## N ATIONAL 

## P RIORITIES 

## L IST 

## (NPL)

***Proposed Site*** March 2015 

### GRAIN HANDLING FACIL ITY Freeman, Washington
AT FREEMAN Spokane County

 **Site Location :**  The Grain Handling Facility at Freeman is located in the town of Freeman, WA, approximately 20 miles southwest of Spokane, between State Highway 27, and an active Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) railway line that roughly parallels the highway. UPRR currently owns the property.

 **Site History:** The seasonally a ctive grain handling facility is equipped with silos, a grain elevator, and a subterranean receiving pit. Rockford Grain Growers was the original operator of the facility which was constructed in 1955. CHS/Primeland purchased the grain handling facility from Rockford Grain Growers in 1993. Given the widespread use of carbon tetrachloride as a fumigant in grain operations beginning in 1911 and continuing until 1986, coupled with the a ge of the facility, it is very likely that carbon tetrachloride was used in the silo s at this location. C arbon tetrachloride was found in soils outside of the

silo s.

 **Site Contamination/Contaminants:** Contaminants found in soil samples collected at the grain handling facility property include carbon tetrachloride and chloroform. Contaminants found in ground water samples collected from the nearby Freeman School primary drinking water supply well located downgradient of the grain handling facility propert y include carbon tetrachloride and chloroform at concentrations above the Safe Drinking Water Act ’s Maximum Contaminant Level s (MCL s ) for carbon tetrachloride and

chloroform.

 **Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment :** 
The Freeman School includes 900 students (pre

- K through Grade 12), teachers, and workers. Carbon tetrachlor i de and

ch loroform has exceeded MCLs in the s chool well for several years. T he school used its own funds to install a water treatment system. Sources and extent of the ground water contamination must be further evaluated. Fund ing is not secure
for continued maintenance of the treatment system.

 **Response Activities (to date):** No response actions have taken place.

 **Need for NPL Listing:**

The s tate of Washing ton Department of Ecology and Washington State Department of Health referred th e site to the EPA
because they want the EPA to help investigate and address ground water contamination that is contaminating Freeman School’s primary and only drinking water supply well. Other parties that petitioned the EPA to investigate and address the

contamination are the Stevens County Regional Health District and the Freeman School District. The EPA received a letter of support from the state for listing the site on the NPL.

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination. See 56 FR 5600, February 11, 1991, or subsequent FR notices.]

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regar ding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs ca n be found on the Internet

at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tox faqs/index.asp or by telephone at 1

- 888

- 42

- ATSDR or 1

- 888

- 422

- 8737.