22 April 2011 – Ohio EPA recently issued a final hazardous waste permit modification to Cytec Industries Inc. (1405 Greene St., Marietta). The permit authorizes Cytec to clean up additional areas on the site according to Ohio EPA’s selected remedies. The Washington County site has a long history of industrial use. Specialty chemicals were manufactured there until 1996. Prior to modern environmental laws, some industrial process waste chemicals were disposed of on site in ponds, landfills and other areas.
Ohio EPA issued a draft permit modification and held a public hearing in 2010, to answer questions about the draft permit and accept public comments. More than 60 comments were received.
Ohio EPA selected a combination of final remedies, and some differ from the remedies proposed in the draft cleanup plan. The most notable difference is that Ohio EPA is requiring Cytec to further investigate ground water conditions around the north landfill rather than selecting a remedy for that location at this time. Cytec must complete its investigation by September 13, 2011, and submit a revised corrective measures study by November 13, 2011. Additional public comments will be considered before the Agency issues another permit modification with a final remedy for the north landfill.
The remedies Ohio EPA selected for other contaminated areas at Cytec involve excavation, containment (capping), treatment and administrative controls. For the former DDT production building area, the revised cap proposal includes synthetic liner, drainage, geotextile and soil layers. For the east storage pad, Ohio EPA will consider a biotreatment alternative to offsite disposal of excavated contaminated soils if Cytec can document the viability of this approach. For the drainage swale, soils and sediment will be sampled and only the material above cleanup standards would have to be excavated and disposed of off-site.
Some of the most contaminated areas at the site have been addressed. In 2004, Ohio EPA issued Cytec a hazardous waste permit that required the company to investigate and clean up contamination found on site. As part of an earlier program, two ponds were cleaned and capped, several landfills and disposal areas were excavated and some contaminated soil and piping was removed.
Remedies selected as part of this latest cleanup effort are detailed in Cytec’s final permit modification, which may be viewed, along with responses to comments and related documents, online; at Ohio EPA’s Southeast District Office, 2195 Front St., Logan (740-385-8501); and at the Division of Hazardous Waste Management, 50 W. Town St., Suite 700, Columbus (614-644-2917). Soon, the permit also will be available at the Washington County Public Library, 615 Fifth Street, Marietta.
Issuance of the final permit can be appealed to the Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC). Many appeals must be filed within 30 days of issuing the final action; therefore, Ohio EPA recommends that anyone wishing to file an appeal contact ERAC online or at (614) 466-8950 for more information.
CONTACTS
Media Contact:
Erin Strouse
+1 614 644 2160
Citizen Contact:
Jed Thorp
+1 614 644 2160
