EPA Proposes Update to Cleanup Plan for Commerce Street Plume Superfund Site in Williston, VT
WILLISTON, VT (Jan. 24, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed an update to the agency's plan to clean up the Commerce Street Plume Superfund Site in Williston, Vermont. The proposed update, formally called an "Explanation of Significant Differences," (ESD) will not fundamentally change the terms, scope, performance or cost of EPA's plan to clean up the Commerce Street Plume site that was established in 2015.
In 2015, EPA selected a comprehensive remedy to address risks to human health by excavation and removal of contaminated soils, management of groundwater migration through treatment, and mitigation of vapor intrusion from contaminated groundwater into a residential house. There are three proposed changes to the remedy, including modifying the soil clean up levels to reflect site conditions and meet EPA risk standards; eliminating the use of certain chemical additives to groundwater (referred to as chemical oxidation), and instead using only bioremediation; and modifying the method used for preventing the potential for volatile contaminants to accumulate in the residential home (i.e., a process known as vapor intrusion). The State of Vermont has reviewed and commented on the proposed update and concurs with its issuance.
The public can comment on the proposed update from Monday, January 24, through Wednesday, February 23, 2022 by following the steps listed below.
Background
The site is located in an industrial park in Williston, Vermont. The site includes a one-acre property at 96 Commerce Street containing a 6,000-square-foot building. Various manufacturing and electroplating operations occurred on the property since 1960. The primary source of contamination for the site was an unlined lagoon at the property, which was used to dispose of industrial rinse water and sludge wastes. During a 1982 investigation of the site, the State of Vermont found the company in violation of hazardous waste regulations for the disposal of chromium-contaminated wastes. Facility operations and disposal practices resulted in contaminated soil, sediment and groundwater with metals and industrial solvents. The site was added to EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in 2005.
EPA recently announced that the Commerce Street Plume Superfund Site was selected to receive funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding will jump start the groundwater cleanup, which has been awaiting funding since 2018.
For more information on site background and to review the ESD, please visit: www.epa.gov/superfund/commercestreet.
These materials are also available for public review at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, 21 Library Lane Williston, VT.
Comments on the ESD should be submitted no later than midnight on February 23, 2022 to:
Darryl Luce
U.S. EPA Region 1 Mail Code: 07-1
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Boston, MA 02109-3912
or [email protected]
For more information, or to have a hard copy sent to you, please contact: Charlotte Gray, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator, [email protected], Office: 617-918-1243