NCD980602163_19970828_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Press release - EPA Issues Non-Compliance Notice to State Agency-OCR

Immediately
August 28, 1997
Pat Williamson
919-733-4996, ex.337
Cap. Press; Warren, Vance
EPA ISSUES NON-COMPLIANCE NOTICE TO ·STATE AGENCY
RALEIGH -The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Notice
of Non-Compliance to the Division of Waste Management, NC Department of
Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, for violating TSCA (Toxic Substances
Control Act) regulations pertaining to the state-owned PCB landfill in Warren County.
"We just received the Notice of Non-Compliance and plan to follow all of EPA's
recommendations and requirements, to the letter," said William L. Meyer, director of
the Division of Waste Management.
He said that state officials had been working closely with the Joint Warren
County/State PCB Landfill Working Group to determine the current status of the
landfill and develop a plan to detoxify it. Funding for detoxification would have to be
appropriated by the NC General Assembly.
PCBs are polychlorinated biphenyls, a chemical once widely used as a liquid
insulation material in electrical transformers. The chemicals were banned in 1976. In
1978, about 30,000 gallons of PCBs were illegally dumped along more than 200 miles
of roads in 14 counties in North Carolina. A site near Afton in Warren County was
chosen for the landfill that would contain the PCB-contaminated soils picked up along
the roadsides.
In the fall of 1996, the 22-member Working Group sent a letter to EPA Region IV
Director John Hankinson requesting EPA staff to inspect the landfill and review state
files after a science advisor for the working group found the state was not in
compliance with certain conditions of its approval agreement with EPA.
In January 1997, Craig Brown with EPA Region IV inspected the landfill and
state PCB landfill operating records. He found that the Division of Waste Management
(DWM) had violated some of the monitoring and leachate management requirements
stated in the EPA letters of approval dated June 4, 1979 and December 14, 1981. The
violations and recommendations are:
Violation: The Notice of Non-Compliance (NON) states that the division's
monthly monitoring reports indicated no leachate samples were ever tested for pH
(indicates acidity) and specific conductance (indicates any change in water other than
what would be expected) as required in the letter of approval dated December 14, 1981.
Recommendation: That the division monitor leachate for PCBs, pH, and specific
conductance on a monthly basis beginning with the first monthly monitoring event
after receipt of the NON.
MORE
Violation: The December 14, 1981 EPA approval letter requires semi-annual
monitoring of groundwater monitoring wells and surface water for PCBs, pH, and
specific conductance. The NON states that the division never tested samples for pH
and specific conductance, but did test regularly for PCBs except for 1987, 1995, and
1996, when only one set of samples was taken. Recommendation: That the state
monitor surface water and groundwater semi-annually for PCBs, pH, and specific
conductance.
Violation: The EPA letter of approval dated June 4, 1979, required the state to
install a leachate collection system (LCS) above and below the landfill's bottom liner
that would allow removal of any collected leachate. The liner was installed as required,
but the division has removed only small amounts of leachate since the landfill was
closed. Because there is at least 10 feet of standing liquid over the bottom liner, EPA
determined that the primary LCS (above the liner) does not meet the LCS performance
standard stated in the approval letter. The EPA's intent in the condition of approval
was to require installation and operation of a LCS that could remove leachate as it was
generated so there would be no build-up of leachate over the landfill liner system. EPA
considers both a properly functioning LCS plus a liner system are necessary to prevent
PCB releases to groundwater.
Recommendation: That the division upgrade the leachate pumping system if the
buildup of leachate was caused by storm water that collected in the landfill when it
was operational. However, there is some evidence that the leachate buildup may be
due in part to precipitation that entered through the landfill cover system. EPA stated
that it may be necessary to replace the cover system in addition to the pump system
upgrade. EPA does not recommend replacing the cover system if North Carolina plans
to excavate and destroy PCBs in the landfill in the near future.
Requirement: The NON also requires North Carolina to prepare and submit to
EPA for approval, a two-phase corrective action plan to eliminate leachate from the
landfill. Phase 1 must include a plan and schedule for replacing/upgrading the
existing leachate pumping system designed to operate on a more-or-less continuous
basis. A contingent, phase 2 plan and schedule for replacing the existing cover system
must be submitted to EPA for approval. EPA will require replacement of the landfill
cover if the state does not submit an application for an alternate method of PCB
disposal for the landfill soil within one year from the date North Carolina received the
NON . The two-phase corrective action plan must be submitted to EPA no more than
90 days after the state received the Notice of Non-Compliance.
The EPA imposed no fines, but the NON states that additional enforcement
action, including fines, could be assessed if North Carolina fails to implement the
recommendations or fails to submit a leachate management corrective action plan in a
timely manner.
EPA Contact: Mr. Craig Brown, 404-562-8990
Warren County Contact: Ms. Dollie Burwell, 919-981-0400 (w), 919-257-1353 (h)
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