Springfield Township Dump Superfund site

By: James GlideGeo 285

What are Superfund sites?• In the most basic form a Superfund site is an uncontrolled or

abandoned place where hazardous waste is located, possibly affecting local ecosystems or people.

• The term “Superfund” came about when the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 came into effect.

• This act allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to hold parties responsible and they must perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups.

• There are 1319 superfund sites.

Springfield Township Dump Site

• This Site was added to the list in 1983• This was a site where over 1,500 drums of hazardous waste

was disposed of improperly by a man named Mr. Nickson• These drums were received from 1966-1968• He received these drums from the Marlowe landfill.• Once received he would dump the chemicals from the drums

into a low lying area of his property. • He would then resell the barrels for even more profit. • The site was discovered in the 1970’s by the DNR

Why did this happen?

• There are a few reasons this was allowed to happen• The first reason was Mr. Nickson’s greed and not

caring for the environment.• The second being the lack of care from the Marlowe

landfill about what he was doing with the waste.• And the third being lack of care by the producers of

the hazardous waste about where it was going once it left their business.

Damages of the dumping

• Soil at the site was found to be contaminated with PCBs, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds.

• Groundwater beneath the site was contaminated with VOCs.

• Some sludge's found on site contained PCBs and dieldrin, a pesticide.

The chemicals• The EPA stated that exposure to soil and groundwater

containing these hazardous substances is associated with significant human health risk

• This is a an issue due to these chemicals being carcinogenic along with many other properties.

• No chemicals have made it into the groundwater supply yet, but there is still a high risk that they will eventually reach the supply.

• This could effect the 25 homes within a mile of the site, and possibly many more

Remediation

• The Department of Natural Resources removed the 1,500 drums of waste and 711 tons of contaminated soil in 1979 and 1980. They also built a fence around the area to keep people away from the affected area.

• They then decided to leave the rest of the clean up to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Remediation Cont.

• The EPA’s clean up was a lot more through than the DNR’s.

• They treated the contaminated soil with techniques such a as soil washing, low temperature thermal desorption, and solvent extraction.

• The possibility of groundwater contamination is being addressed by an extraction and treatment system designed to pump and treat 5 to 10 gallons of groundwater per minute.

How to prevent these sites• There have been may laws passed to prevent the illegal

dumping of hazardous waste in the last 20 years.• Now there are huge fines and jail time for people who are

found guilty of this. • There are also many ways that all waste must me

documented and there are frequent inspections to make sure that everything is disposed of properly.

• These laws have dramatically reduced the amount of hazardous waste that is being illegally disposed of.

The site now

• The EPA finished there clean up in 2002. • The site is being monitored by the EPA still and

the groundwater on site is still being tested.• The groundwater of the houses around the

site is tested once a year by the Oakland County Health Dept.

• So far no major contaminants have been found in the Groundwater supply

Conclusion

• Even now that the site has been remediated by the EPA people are still weary of living by .

• People have a hard time believing that the contaminants will not spread to their properties.

• This site goes to show that money and greed are two large components that can lead to severe damage to the environment that we live in.

Works Cited• "Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

and Liability Act (CERCLA)." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.

• Karl, Richard / Us Environmental Protection Agency ;. "Third Five-Year Review Report." SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP DUMP - 2009 (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

• "SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP DUMP." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.

• "Superfund Sites Where You Live." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.