EPA Issues IROD for Terry Creek Dredge Spoil Areas

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an Interim Action Record of Decision (IROD) that specifies the interim remedy for Operable Unit 1: Outfall Ditch at the Terry Creek Dredge Spoil Areas/Hercules Outfall Site.

The State of Georgia Environmental Protection Division concurred with the interim remedy decision, EPA said.

The major components of the interim remedy to address the sediment contamination in OU1 include:

• re-routing the discharge into a newly constructed concrete-lined conveyance channel;
• placement of geo-textile fabric over existing sediment in the outfall ditch;
• backfilling the outfall ditch with compacted clean soil;
• armoring the backfill slope;
• seeding and stabilization of disturbed areas;
• periodic inspections, maintenance and sediment removal;
• development of a long term monitoring plan.

A final copy of the IROD and the documents that support this decision will be made available in the near future in the site repository housed at the Brunswick/Glynn County Regional Library at 208 Gloucester Street in Brunswick, Ga, said EPA in its release.

The next step in the process is to begin the remedial design for the implementation of the interim remedy.

Background

The Terry Creek site consists of a salt water tidal creek and marsh system contaminated with toxaphene caused by discharges from the former Hercules pesticide plant. The site is located on the Atlantic coast directly east of the city of Brunswick, near the confluence of Terry Creek, Dupree Creek and the Back River, north of the Torras Causeway and east of U.S. Highway 17.

The site was proposed to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1997; however, the site was never finalized on the NPL. The EPA plans to utilize the Superfund Alternative Approach (SAA) at the Site in cleanup settlement agreements with potentially responsible parties (PRPs) for remedial action work.

The SAA is an alternative to listing a site on the NPL before securing a cleanup agreement at the site. The EPA said that they may enter into cleanup agreements at sites not on the NPL if there is a willing PRP, the site scores high enough to be listed on the NPL, and a remedial action is required.

The SAA uses the same process and standards for investigation, cleanup and community involvement as sites on the NPL.

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