NCD980602163_19830608_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Routine Environmental Moniotoring of PBC Landfill-OCR

Ronald H. Levine, M.D., M.P.H .
ST A TE HEAL TH DIRECTOR
DIVISION OF HEAL TH SERVICES
P.O. Box 2091
Raleigh, N.C. 27602-2091
June 8, 1983
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
William Phillips, Assistant to the Secretary
Division of Crime Control and Public Safety
Thomas C. Karnoski, Environmental Engineer _JC v1/
Solid & Hazardous Waste Management Branch JL
Environmental Health Section
SUBJECT: Routine Environmental Monitoring of PCB Landfill, Warren County
Attached are analytical results of the May 16, 1983, monitoring event of the
PCB landfill. Please note--surface water samples UTDS Replicate Band RCUS
Replicate A showed positive for presence of PCB's. Their associated repli-
cates, however, did not. This initially indicated possible analytical and/or
sampling error. Discussions with John Neal of our analytical laboratory showed
that their analyses were accurate. Further investigation showed that some of
the sampling containers were previously used for high concentration PCB materi-
al. While an attempt was made to clean the sampling containers, enough residue
remained to contaminate the surface water samples at the low levels being ana-
lyzed for.
This was verified during a resampling event on June 2, 1983. Surface water
samples were collected at points UTDS, RCUS, and other stream positions to
aid in pinpointing releases from the landfill should that be occurring. The
analytical results of this sampling event are also attached. All samples
with replicates showed no indication of the presence of PCB's. It is my
professional opinion that the presence of PCB's at the less than one part
per billion level during the May 16, 1983, event was due to sampling error,
specifically contaminated sampling containers. To prevent such occurrances
from happening in the future, the following policy will be implemented:
1. No sampling container will be reused if it has even contained a
detectable concentration of PCB contaminated material.
2. The laboratory will analyze for PCB concentrations down to levels
of one ppb only, not .1 ppb as is the current practice. This loss
in precision is unimportant when compared to interpreting data influ-
enced by synthetically-introduced residues or even naturally occurring
background levels.
If you have any questions or desire further clarification, do not hesitate to
contact me.
TCK:ct
Attachments
Jome s B Hunt, Jr/ Sarah T Morrow, MD , MPH STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES SECRET ARY