EPA brownfields grant: county consultant reports contamination at Crystal Springs site, proposes further testing
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Summary
Terracon representatives told the board the county’s EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant funded Phase 1 and Phase 2 work at multiple former industrial sites and found volatile organic compounds, PCBs and PFAS at Crystal Springs; they recommended additional drilling and sampling to define contamination extent and plan cleanup funding steps.
A consultant working under Walker County’s EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant updated the board on environmental assessments at several former industrial sites and recommended further testing to define contamination and pursue cleanup funding.
What the contractor reported: Dallas Whitmill of Terracon Consultants summarized work funded by a roughly $500,000 EPA grant for site inventories, Phase 1 and Phase 2 environmental site assessments, and planning that can make sites eligible for future cleanup grants. “A phase 1 environmental site assessment is where we obtain records...and complete a site reconnaissance,” Whitmill explained, and “if we have recognized environmental conditions, then we move to a phase 2 environmental site assessment” that collects soil, groundwater and soil-vapor samples.
Findings to date: Terracon completed Phase 1 work at four sites and Phase 2 sampling at Crystal Springs Print Works Mill and Peerless Mill. At Crystal Springs the Phase 2 work identified impacts in soil that included volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, PCBs and PFAS; investigators also reported a PFAS detection in surface water. The team encountered bedrock before reaching target depths for groundwater sampling and proposed returning with a different drill rig to collect deeper groundwater samples and to collect additional soil samples to define the extent of contamination.
Community impact and next steps: Whitmill said property owners of some assessed sites declined to proceed with additional assessments after Phase 1. For Crystal Springs and other sites the county plans to complete additional sampling and then pursue cleanup-planning work that would position the sites to compete for EPA cleanup grants. Whitmill said the Brownfields grant cannot itself perform cleanup but is intended to support assessment, planning and community outreach that enable a future remediation grant.
Ending: The consultant said the county’s next step is additional drilling and sampling to delineate contamination and that the assessment work completed so far positions the county to seek cleanup funding if the necessary planning is completed.
