Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a public meeting will be held to discuss the Proposed Plan for the SWMU 10 area at the Escambia Treating Company (ETC) Superfund Site, which presents the EPA’s recommended approach for the SMWU 10 cleanup, on August 19, 2014 at 6 pm at the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church at 3600 North Palafox.
EPA will accept public comments until at least September 15, 2014. After the public comment period, the EPA will prepare an Amendment to the existing groundwater Record of Decision (ROD) signed in 2008.
The SMWU 10 area is the former location of a wastewater pond and landfill that contains severe contamination and is acting as the “source area†of the groundwater plume leaving the former ETC Facility. The proposed remedy is Steam-Enhanced Extraction of creosote contamination in the SMWU 10 area, followed by additional technologies using surfactants, solvents and oxidants as needed. The Proposed Plan contains a more detailed discussion of the remedy selection process and is presented to the community for public comment and input.
Together, the 2008 ROD and the 2014 Amended ROD (AROD) will select the cleanup approach for the groundwater contamination from ETC. The timeframe for starting the cleanup will depend on the availability of funding, but the best case scenario is to start the cleanup in 2016. This Proposed Plan and an Administrative Record will be available in the information repository for the Site located at the Geneology Branch Library, 5740 N. Ninth Ave., Pensacola, FL 32504.
A summary of information on the ETC site is available here: http://www.epa.gov/region4/superfund/sites/npl/florida/escwprefl.html
