Superfund Site: Helena Chemical Company (HCC)

A superfund site falls under the Environmental Protections Agency's (EPA's) Superfund program. It is a site that has hazardous waste on it. Whether the property is abandoned or still in use the dangerous chemical wastes need a plan of action to improve the site. The site will be put on a list of other superfund sites, after the initial investigation a notice of decision will be made (Wikipedia, Superfund).

There were quite a number of superfund sites in Florida. I chose a site in Tampa, Florida because it is a populated area and I plan to work in Tampa one day. The name of the superfund site is the Helena Chemical Company (HCC) it is located west of the Tampa Bypass Canal in the Orient Part Industrial area, the physical address of the site is 2405 North 71^st Street, Tampa, Florida in the county of Hillsborough. The site is active and the main operating facility covers about 8 acres. The north side of the property is adjacent to 14^th avenue and the south is alone an active railroad (NPL Site Narrative for Helena Chemical Co).

The following is a timeline of some of the incidents at the site:

• 1977 "A spill occurred in the area of a solvent aboveground storage tank."
• 1984 "Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) inspected the HCC site and required quarterly monitoring."
• 1988 to 1990, "USEPA investigated the HCC and found pesticide contamination in the soil, sediments, and surficial aquifer."
• 1992, The Site was proposed to the NPL by USEPA.
• 1992, A CERCLA consent order was signed by HCC and USEPA.
• 1992, By October "the Site was placed on the NPL."
• 1993, April the "Phase I Remedial Investigation activities were completed"
• 1993, From September to December the Phase II activities were conducted.
• 1994, Comments on the draft remedial investigation report required more trenching and sampling.
• 1994, Results from Phase I and II were submitted to the USEP.
• 1995, The remedial investigation report was submitted to the USEPA.
• 1996, The USEPA signed the Record of Decision
• 1997, Work plan submitted
• 2000, Proposal of limited soil investigation
• 2001, Testing of ground water
• Between October 2002 to January 2003, field activities and groundwater sampling
• 2005, Investigation of groundwater to see the level of xylene

(First Five-Year Review, Helena Chemical Company).

There are many contaminants that were found in the soil and ground water. Here are some of the contaminants of the soil:

Ethybenzene, Heptachlor Epoxide, Anthracene, Pyrene, Xylenes, Benzo(ghi)perylene, Indeno (1,2,3-CD) Pyrene, Fluoranthene, Benzo (K) Fluoranthene, Chrysene, and a lot more, which come from pesticides, SVOCs, VOCs, inorganics, metals, and PAHs.

Some of the contaminants found in the groundwater include:

Alderin, Alpha-BHC, Beta-BHC, Gamma-BHC, Dieldrin, Xylenes, Endosulfan I and II, and DDT (EPA, Superfund Information Systems, Contaminants found at Helena Chemical Co.).

There is no way to tell if the contamination started when the first chemical company was in operation or if it was the Helena Chemical Company. Up until 1972 "liquid solvent runoff entered a small holding pond." Helena Chemical Company from 1974 to 1981 did treat and neutralize the liquid pesticide which involved the use of three underground tanks that interconnected. From 1976 the plant was using a "retention pond to contain storm-water runoff, and possibly to contain spillage from the liquid processing plant" (NPL Site Narrative for Helena Chemical Co.).

References:

EPA Superfund Record of Decision, Helena Chemical Co., (Tampa Plant), (June 17, 2007)

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/rods/fulltext/r0496264.pdf

EPA First Five Year Review Helena Chemical Company, Tampa Superfund Site, January 2006, (June 17, 2007)

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/fiveyear/f0604002.pdf

Wikipedia. Superfund (June 17, 2007)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfund_Site

EPA, (October 1992) NPL Site Narrative for Helena Chemical Co. (Tampa Plant), (June 18, 2007)

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/nplsnl/n0400674.pdf

EPA, Superfund Information Systems, Contaminants found at Helena Chemical Co. (Tampa Plant)

http://cfpub.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.contams&id=0400674