December 8, Clean Soils Environmental Ltd. 33 Estes St. Ipswich, MA T: F: cleansoils.com

Transcription

1 December 8, 2015 Ms. Debra Hawks via Only: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Northeast Regional Office Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup 205B Lowell Street Wilmington, Massachusetts Re: Request for Termination of Downgradient Property Status Opinion filed for Union Street Realty Trust 97 Union Street Watertown, MA MassDEP Release Tracking Number (RTN) Dear Ms. Hawks: Clean Soils Environmental, Ltd. (CSE) is submitting this request for a termination or rejection of the submitted Downgradient Property Status (DPS) Opinion by Ransom Consulting, Inc. (RANSOM) for Release Tracking Number (RTN) referenced by edep Transaction ID on November 18, 2015 regarding the Storyville Preschool property located at 97 Union Street in Watertown, Massachusetts (the School property). BACKGROUND SUMMARY In short, RANSOM s DPS Opinion suggests the source of the Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds (CVOC) release to 97 Union Street and Morse Street is from past use of the Massage Room at Morse Street (the PZME property). CSE maintains based on all of the research conducted over the last few years the source of the CVOC release is not from Morse Street or the PZME property and most likely from sources emanating from 97 Union Street or the School property. Therefore, CSE disagrees with RANSOM s DPS Opinion based on numerous sources of information substantiating that CVOCs were used, stored and disposed of at the original School property building, which was demolished in 1998 with significant disturbance to the surface soils at 97 Union Street. According to historical records, the School property was originally developed in 1900 as a glove cleansing shop. According to Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, from approximately 1903 until 1951, the School property is depicted as a glove-cleaning facility, and four buried naphtha tanks are labeled east of the facility (Sanborn Maps 1911 through 1923 or attached Ransom s Figure 2). The naphtha was used in the glove cleaning operations as a solvent and degreaser. Naphtha was one of the earlier solvents for cleaning and degreasing. However, naphtha is flammable and therefore the cleaning industry began to eliminate naphtha as solvent. Thus, the naphtha could have been replaced by CVOCs such as tetrachloroethylene (PCE) that is non-flammable. This may be the reason the naphtha underground storage tanks disappear from the later Sanborn Maps (i.e., 1951 & 1971), but Clean Soils Environmental Ltd. 33 Estes St. Ipswich, MA T: F: cleansoils.com

2 continued to be used to store PCE for glove cleaning and later machine shop activities by APEX located at 97 Union Street. Photographs enclosed within RANSOM reports document the removal of these underground tanks in The 1971 Sanborn map depicts the School property labeled as a machine shop with a garage structure added to the southern end of the building. APEX is listed by the Massachusetts Division of Corporations from and listed as an occupant at the School property within the EDR City Directory records from APEX manufactured special dies and tools, die sets, jigs and fixtures and employed 9-12 workers at the height of its operations. In 2011, Ms. Patricia Luttrell was interviewed by RANSOM, During the course of operations, Ms. Luttrell recalled that metal shavings covered in cutting oil were placed in turkey roasting pan size containers, which were stored both inside and outside the building (see attached RANSOM s Figure 2). Further, Ms. Luttrell recalls that before Creative Constructors Corporation moved into the former building, APEX removed 10 to 20 pieces of large machining equipment from the ground and first floors of the building. In December 1998, 97 Union Street Realty Trust filed a permit to demolish the building, and in June 1998 filed a permit to construct a day-care center. Fire Department records indicate that a 1,000-gallon fuel oil underground storage tank (UST) and four 150-gallon fuel oil USTs (i.e., naphtha/pce tanks) were removed from the School property in December The School property was later developed and is used s today as a Day Care Center. REQUEST TO TERMINATE OR REJECT RANSOM S DPS This request is in accordance with CMR (1)(a) and (b) based upon the criteria in 310 CMR (2) not being met and failing to comply with the requirements in 310 CMR for maintaining such Status. The following provides supporting documentation for the termination request: 1. The DPS Opinion submitted for the School property under RTN does not meet the Criteria set forth in CMR (2)(c) because the APEX machine shop was in operation at the School property from , a period of history with high CVOC use with poor waste management practices and evidence of releases of oil and hazardous materials (OHM) prior to RCRA implementation. CSE believes PCE and associated degradation compounds (TCE, DCE), the contaminants of concern, were used by APEX for machine shop degreasing activities at the School property, and RANSOM cannot demonstrate that APEX did not cause, contribute, or worsen the releases. See attached RANSOM s Figures 2 and 3 for the location where the waste and OHM was stored and managed at the School Property that is upgradient from the PZME property Lower Gym. In addition, the buried naphtha tanks associated with the former glove cleaning operations could have been used to store CVOCs since Naphtha was very flammable and was replaced by PCE usage in the industry. Given the age of the tanks existing as far back as 1911 in Sanborn Maps, CSE expects the naphtha tanks were converted to store PCE and were likely Termination Request for DPS Opinion 97 Union Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN CSE Project No December 8, 2015 Page 2

3 leaking at some point before their removal. Therefore, the former USTs are likely one source of CVOCs at the School property. These same Sanborn Maps, naphtha tanks, and property descriptions are reported in the Revised Phase II Comprehensive Site Assessment Report by RANSOM dated March 28, The RANSOM Report also identifies two hot spots (see RANSOM s Figure 5) or source locations in the vicinity of monitoring wells GZA-3 and MW201 all located within the vicinity of where OHM was stored by the glove cleaning operations and later managed and released most likely by the APEX machine shop which operated from 1945 to 1983 (38 years) at the School property. 2. To support this claim, the highest concentrations of PCE detected in groundwater were measured on the School property in monitoring wells MW201 (PCE at 400 ug/l) and GZ-3 (PCE at 900 ug/l). See Figure 1 below and attached RANSOM s Figure 5 for the location of these monitoring wells at the School property. Therefore, the former APEX and now School property is the mostly likely the source of the releases as noted in the past or within CSE s Downgradient Property Status (DPS) and RANSOM s Revised Phase II Comprehensive Site Assessment Report (CSA) dated March 28, Additional supporting evidence is referenced on the attached RANSOM s Figure 2 which indicates, Areas Where Small Drums and Metal Tubs Were Located Inside And Outside of the past machine shop operations at the School property within the upgradient vicinity of monitoring well MW201 and upgradient from the Lower Gym at the PZME property. 3. RANSOM s DPS claims that surficial soil was not altered within the former loading dock/garage on the southern end of the former APEX building, located within feet from the property line to the Massage Room at the PZME property. CSE s DPS argues soil was removed and/or altered within this vicinity of the southern portion of the School property or within the location of the former loading dock/garage. See below Figure 1 which is a photograph taken during the redevelopment of the School property which was obtained from RANSOM s Phase II CSA Report. Figure 1 helps demonstrates numerous suspected leaky USTs being removed which formerly stored naphtha and likely later PCE as part of glove cleaning and APEX operations. Most important, Figure 1 clearly shows soil was altered on the southern property line of the School property during the razing or the beginning of the development process in In fact, it appears the majority of the School property was altered to develop the current building at the School property. Also see attached RANSOM s Figure 2 that shows the approximate locations where the School property was significantly altered during the development process. Termination Request for DPS Opinion 97 Union Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN CSE Project No December 8, 2015 Page 3

4 Figure 1 Note: Also see the attached Figures for additional Details Vicinity of GZA-3 97 Union 4. Also note, a person filing a DPS Submittal must certify that "no act of such person has contributed to the release... or caused such release to become worse than it otherwise would have been" (see 310 CMR (2)(c)). What are examples of actions or activities by a downgradient property owner or operator that may contribute to or worsen a release originating from an upgradient property? [November 2007]. MassDEP states, Examples of acts that may worsen a release observed on a downgradient property include (i) installation and operation of irrigation wells, subsurface drains, or stormwater infiltration systems on the downgradient property that alter contaminant plume movement, exposures, exposure point concentrations, and/or remedial feasibility; and (ii) grading or building construction activities that create new contaminant migration or exposure pathways. It appears to CSE the new building construction did create new exposure points and new contaminant migration pathways (e.g., inhalation of vapors by children within the building) that requires the present Active Exposure Pathway Elimination Measure (AEPEM) or the active Sub-Slab Depressurization System at the School property to operate full time at the School property. 5. Additionally, the maintenance of the DPS according to CMR (1)(a) has not been met since the redevelopment of the School property altered the soils causing it to become more widespread than it otherwise would have been. See above Figure 1 and attached RANSOM s Figure 2 for additional details. 6. Moreover, the Criteria for CMR (2)(d)(1) has not been met because Ms. Patricia Luttrell, the property owner of the School property, whose father Harvey Friedman operated Harbor Electric from during a period when APEX was also in operation ( ) within the same building, owned by Ms. Luttrell (refer to the timeline below). In 1983, APEX s successor, Mr. McDuffee Termination Request for DPS Opinion 97 Union Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN CSE Project No December 8, 2015 Page 4

5 sold the School property to Patricia Luttrell, who is the principal of Creative Constructors, Inc. and Trustee of Union Trust. Therefore, there is a 5 year period where the building was occupied by both parties indicating that Ms. Luttrell s tenant was APEX during the period of CVOC use, mismanagement, and while releases to the environment continued. Owner / Occupant 1) Nonantum Glove Cleaning Establishment 2) 3) 4) Apex Manufacturing Company Harbor Electric Company Creative Constructors 5) Union Street Realty Trust Termination Request for DPS Opinion 97 Union Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN CSE Project No December 8, 2015 Page 5 97 Union Street Owner/Occupant History Date of Ownership / Operation Circa (42 years) (38 years) (17 years) 1978 Present (37 years) 1983 Present (32 years) Type of Operation Glove Cleaning (Naphtha and other OHM used for glove cleaning) Machine Shop (which required the use of PCE and/or TCE as a degreaser for metal parts) Electric Company (tool storage and electrical supplies) Office space, demolished in 1998, present day building built 1999 Office / Daycare 7. RANSOM s DPS speculated that the source of the release to the School property is most likely from soil with elevated PCE concentrations (highest at 28,000 ug/kg) from beneath the Massage Room at the PZME property. According to RANSOM s groundwater flow map, the Massage Room at the PZME property is purportedly the most upgradient location between the two properties. However, only low concentrations of PCE measured within groundwater monitoring wells MW901 (PCE at 3.5 ug/l), MW902 (PCE at BRL/ND), CSE-1 (PCE at 2.9 ug/l), CSE-6 (PCE at BRL/ND), and Well Sump (PCE Trace), are all downgradient of the Massage Room and below the MassDEP Method 1 Risk Characterization numerical cleanup standards of 5.0 ug/l for PCE. If the source was from the Massage Room, one would expect these concentrations to be higher within the monitoring wells directly downgradient from RANSOM s suspected source or the Massage Room. However, this is not the case, and in fact the groundwater with the most elevated concentrations is at 97 Union Street in monitoring wells GZA-3 and MW201. See attached RANSOM s Figures 5 & 10 for additional details regarding well locations and CVOC concentrations. If significant releases had occurred at the PZME property within the Massage Room, one should measure significantly higher levels of PCE within these surrounding groundwater monitoring wells (MW901, MW902, CSE-1, CSE-6 and the Sump Well). This data indicates the source and leading edge of the PCE plume most likely originates from the School

6 property. PCE was not measured in the groundwater in the areas of the courtyard or monitoring well CSE-6 that is also directly located downgradient from the Massage Room according to the attached RANSOM s Figure 3. RANSOM s DPS interprets groundwater flow in one direction, however, the illustration clearly shows a radial flow pattern that has been maintained and interpreted by CSE since the beginning of investigations. See attached RANSOM s Figure 3 with annotations by CSE highlighting the radial nature of groundwater flow in the vicinity of the Massage Room, instead of a singular flow direction as suggested by RANSOM. These findings support CSE s Conceptual Site Model that soil contamination beneath the Massage Room is likely the result of a combination of surficial or subsurface releases of CVOCs from 97 Union Street that penetrated into the subsurface from groundwater flow and/or surface water driving PCE below the Massage Room from the upgradient source on 97 Union Street. Please note that the soil concentrations of PCE are highest along the property boundary in the deeper sampling locations and decreases significantly moving beneath the Massage Room floor indicating the PCE is sourced from the School property. See attached CSE Figures 4 & 4C for additional details. The redevelopment of the School Property in 1998 has likely removed the former soil hot spots in the vicinity of the former loading dock/car port area. 8. At the time that PZME purchased Morse Street, the area of the current Massage Room was an unoccupied and unfinished basement with cobblestone foundation, and was never used as RANSOM s DPS suggests, by any past tenants for machine shops or other operations that used CVOCs. NEW INFORMATION: According to Mr. Paul Donelan of Donelan Construction, the contractor who conducted the full renovation at the PZME property in 2004; In 2004 I began a major renovation project at Morse Street that included a raw space that we finished and is currently used by Cortiva as room 116 [Massage Room]. This area was totally unfinished but for a rough, uneven concrete slab floor. The walls were bare rubble foundation stone and there were a couple of below grade windows that leaked terribly. The entire area is below grade. There were no walls, and no lighting at all that I recall other than perhaps a bare bulb or two. The space clearly was not used for anything and was in the same condition as when the building was built. This has also been confirmed by interviews and sworn statements from past tenants including Delaney Laundry and C&K ( C&K ) Components. C&K did not utilize PCE and TCE in the manufacturing process of light switches. See responses from C&K to MassDEP s Request for Information. C&K stated that they conducted light switch assembly and did not use PCE within Termination Request for DPS Opinion 97 Union Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN CSE Project No December 8, 2015 Page 6

7 this process. Also, C&K informed CSE the small circuit boards used within the switches were manufactured in China or Japan. This is further documented by C&K within the Interim Deadline reports submitted to MassDEP under pains and penalties of law (See CSE DPS Report at Appendix F). C&K used Sonic-Solve which utilizes 1,1, 2 trifluoroethene or Freon 113 in small quantities in order to clean machineries via small spray bottle or degreasing springs in small containers (See CSE DPS at p. 20). The use of PCE and/or TCE on electronic switches would have damaged the finished product. 9. The New England directory of New England Manufactures was reviewed in order to confirm or dismiss the manufacturing activities by suspected previous tenants at the PZME property as identified in RANSOM s DPS. The following companies in question at Morse St are not listed as manufacturers on the 1968 directory: Zorak Co. IG Engineering Kates Scientific Instruments Edwards Engineering C&K Components In 1970, the only manufacturer listed on the directory at Morse Street is C&K Components. The J.L. Thompson and Machine listed on the 1970 and 1976 directories was located at 5 Sawyer Road in Waltham. Zorak Co. is listed at 85 Elm Street in the 1976 directory. Kates Scientific Instruments is listed at 60 Pleasant Street in the 1976 directory. Therefore, the City Directory listings of suspected manufacturers at the PZME property as suggested by RANSOM s DPS indicate that the operations at Morse Street or the PZME property were strictly administrative offices only. Manufacturing operations, if any, were conducted at the off-site locations as listed by the directory for the above mentioned companies; C&K is the only manufacturer listed at the PZME property which, as stated above, did not use PCE or TCE during operations. 10. As discussed many times with MassDEP, the Massage Room area has experienced flooding conditions over the years. Soil around and beneath the Massage Room have been fully saturated with surface waters from rain runoff, storm water and groundwater. Therefore, contaminated surface water has filled voids between the soil and flushed PCE into the soil beneath the Massage Room, before the drainage was corrected. Since PCE and TCE are sinkers it is not expected that high concentrations of PCE and TCE would remain in shallow soils in the area upgradient, even if no alteration or removal of the soil in this area took place over Termination Request for DPS Opinion 97 Union Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN CSE Project No December 8, 2015 Page 7

8 time, which we know occurred from redevelopment of the School property and as documented by photographs as noted above. 11. Finally and most importantly, CSE has found no obvious evidence to support that PCE or TCE was stored, used or disposed of at 101 or 103 Morse Street or the PZME property. In conclusion, it is CSE s opinion that according to CMR (1)(a) and (b), MassDEP should terminate or reject the DPS for RTN referenced by edep Transaction ID Also CSE request that MassDEP upload this letter to edep under RTN since CSE does not have authorization to upload any opinions to this RTN. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call. Respectfully submitted, Clean Soils Environmental, Ltd. William H. Mitchell, Jr., LSP President, Geologist Kevin L. McAndrews Project Manager, Geologist Attachments: RANSOM s Figure 2 (from RANSOM s DPS Opinion) w/ CSE Annotations RANSOM s Figure 3 (from RANSOM s DPS Opinion) w/ CSE Annotations RANSOM s Figure 5 (from RANSOM s DPS Opinion) w/ CSE Annotations RANSOM s Figure 7 (from RANSOM s DPS Opinion) w/ CSE Annotations CSE s Figures 4 & 4C (From CSE s DPS Submittal) CC s: Joanne Fagan, Only joanne.fagan@state.ma.us Sharon Gobiel, Only Sharon.gobiel@state.ma.us Nikki Turner, Only nturnercoach@gmail.com Ben Benjamin, Only drben@benbenjamin.com Robert Fasanella, Only rfasanella@rubinrudman.com Termination Request for DPS Opinion 97 Union Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN CSE Project No December 8, 2015 Page 8

9 1. SITE PLAN BASED ON "GROUNDWATER CONTOUR PLAN" DATED JANUARY 31, 2007, PREPARED BY GZA GEOENVIRONMENTAL, INC.; STORYVILLE PRESCHOOL BUILDING AND FORMER DALBY MILLS BUILDING BASED ON GOOGLE EARTH IMAGERY DATED AUGUST 24, FORMER APEX BUILDING BASED ON "PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT-97 UNION STREET PREPARED BY H.K. FITZGERALD ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS, INC. DATED APRIL 27, 1998; "WELL SKETCH PLAN" PREPARED BY MERIDIAN ASSOCIATES, INC. DATED JUNE 23, 2015 AND OBSERVATIONS MADE BY RANSOM CONSULTING, INC. BETWEEN APRIL 2008 AND OCTOBER SOME FEATURES ARE APPROXIMATE IN LOCATION AND SCALE.

10 1. SITE PLAN BASED ON "GROUNDWATER CONTOUR PLAN" DATED JANUARY 31, 2007, PREPARED BY GZA GEOENVIRONMENTAL, INC. AND MEASUREMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS MADE BY RANSOM CONSULTING, INC. BETWEEN APRIL 2008 AND FEBRUARY SOME FEATURES ARE APPROXIMATE IN LOCATION AND SCALE.

11 1. SITE PLAN BASED ON "GROUNDWATER CONTOUR PLAN" DATED JANUARY 31, 2007, PREPARED BY GZA GEOENVIRONMENTAL, INC.; STORYVILLE PRESCHOOL BUILDING AND FORMER DALBY MILLS BUILDING BASED ON GOOGLE EARTH IMAGERY DATED AUGUST 24, FORMER APEX BUILDING BASED ON "PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT-97 UNION STREET PREPARED BY H.K. FITZGERALD ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS, INC. DATED APRIL 27, 1998; "WELL SKETCH PLAN" PREPARED BY MERIDIAN ASSOCIATES, INC. DATED JUNE 23, 2015 AND OBSERVATIONS MADE BY RANSOM CONSULTING, INC. BETWEEN APRIL 2008 AND OCTOBER SOME FEATURES ARE APPROXIMATE IN LOCATION AND SCALE.

12 1. SITE PLAN BASED ON "GROUNDWATER CONTOUR PLAN" DATED JANUARY 31, 2007, PREPARED BY GZA GEOENVIRONMENTAL, INC.; STORYVILLE PRESCHOOL BUILDING AND FORMER DALBY MILLS BUILDING BASED ON GOOGLE EARTH IMAGERY DATED AUGUST 24, FORMER APEX BUILDING BASED ON "PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT-97 UNION STREET PREPARED BY H.K. FITZGERALD ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS, INC. DATED APRIL 27, 1998; "WELL SKETCH PLAN" PREPARED BY MERIDIAN ASSOCIATES, INC. DATED JUNE 23, 2015 AND OBSERVATIONS MADE BY RANSOM CONSULTING, INC. BETWEEN APRIL 2008 AND OCTOBER SOME FEATURES ARE APPROXIMATE IN LOCATION AND SCALE.

13 A Lower Gym N Parking B-3 (S-1 & S-2) CSE-3 SG-3 IA-3 B 97 Union Street Portion of the Building in 1971 Machine Shop (see Sanborn Maps) Gym Bathrooms Gym Reception IA-3A Elevator Shaft Basement Elevator Room B-1 (S1 & S2) CSE-1 SG-1 IA-1 B-2 (S-1 & S-2) SG-2 IA-2 Massage Reception IA-2A Massage Room B-8 (12"& 24") B-7 (12"& 24") B-9 (12"& 24") Residence Union Street Parking SG-7 B-4(S-1 & S-2) B-5(S-1) SG-5 B-6 CSE-6 Courtyard A' Morse Street Residence Well/Sump Room Morse Street Residence B' Soil Boring and Soil Sample Groundwater Monitoring Well Boring converted to Monitoring Well Soil Gas Vapor Point Boring converted to Soil Gas Point Indoor Air Sample Location (O), (F), Morse Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN 3-

14 4-6' Approximate Property Line CSM Cross Section B - B' circa 1980 Former Loading Dock Suppected Area of Backdoor Dumping of PCE Surface Water (rain) Precipitation and Percoalation Class Rooms Upgradient Poor drainage (up until corrections at Morse St in 2007) caused the subsurface to become fully saturated enabling PCE to migrate downgradient. PCE released to the ground surface infiltrated the subsurface and migrated downward by gravity through the vadose zone. Soil distubed during redevelopment (Storyville) Downgradient Massage Room Residual PCE dissolved in pore water and sorbed to soil remains in the present day vadose zone IA2 PCE in solution migrated downgradient beneath Massage Room within preferential a pathway consisting of porous sands and gravels overlying refusal.???? PCE in solution migrated downgradient beneath Gym along refusal B-8 (12"): 2,800 B-8 (24"): 26,800? B-2 (0-2'): 13,000 B-2 (2-4'): 19,000 B-7 (12"): 2,200 B-7 (24"): ND B-9 (12"): 140 B-9 (24"): ND Estimated Refusal and/or Glacial Till Ground Surface? Residual vadose zone PCE from upgradient 97 Union St is most elevated near property boundary, and diminishes moving in the direction of Massage Room?? = Soil Gas Probe Soil Boring (O), (F), CSM Cross Section B - B' circa Morse Street, Watertown, MA MassDEP RTN