ADEQ presents plan to clean Whirlpool pollution

Officials with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality faced angry Fort Smith residents Monday night (Nov. 12) as they presented official recommendations to Whirlpool on how to clean up a toxic plume of chemicals, namely trichloroethylene (TCE), that Whirlpool admits leaking into the groundwater during the 1980s.

The Remedial Action Decision Document (RADD) discussed tonight at the Fort Smith Senior Center was first made public Oct. 7. According to ADEQ Deputy Director Ryan Benefield, the RADD forces cleanup and protects the public.

"It tells you what corrected actions are to be implemented in response to the release of the hazardous constituents and it's designed to be protective of public health and the environment," he said.

Of the options explored by ADEQ, Benefield said a panel of experts from the agency determined that two different methods were best for remediating the TCE plume. The first method for remediation directly addresses soil remediation on the Whirlpool site.

"Impacted soil will be covered with asphalt and an impermeable coating," Benefield said, reading from a PowerPoint presentation. "Soil cover will be designed to prevent water from migrating through the contaminated soil during rain events."

Soil gas monitoring will also take place on the Whirlpool site to confirm that vapor intrusion continues to be an incomplete pathway, Benefield said.

The second method of remediation is in-situ chemical treatment at three different sites, one on the Whirlpool site and two directly north of the Whirlpool site. All three sites are within the defined TCE plume area, the RADD reads.

"The type and quantity of oxidant or reducing agent will be determined by bench testing of impacted aquifer materials. … In addition to the chemical treatment remedy, MNA will be conducted for the on-site and off-site plume."

The total cost of chemicals for treatment is estimated to cost $5.4 million, according to ADEQ.

In an attempt to ease public fear regarding the effectiveness of the proposed remedies, Benefield presented a list of examples where in-situ chemical oxidation had worked in Arkansas. First on that list was the Smith Blair facility in Texarkana, which had TCE pollution.

According to ADEQ, several injections of sodium permanganate at the site had been completed which "initially reduced contaminant mass of tetrachloroethylene (PCE), TCE, and gasoline."

The only other method proposed at this time for the Whirlpool site is the use of an on-site deed notification "to identify the kinds of contaminants present and describe the activities that are not allowed to be conducted at the facility," according to the RADD.

A previous attempt by Whirlpool to have the city of Fort Smith pass an ordinance to ban the drilling of groundwater wells was unsuccessful, with all but one director voting against the ordinance.

Following Benefield's presentation, the public was allowed to ask questions and the discussion went on for well over an hour and a half. Area resident Debbie Keith, who has been an active advocate for those living in the plume-impacted area, was the first to ask a question of Benefield.

"In 2011, the plume was definitely larger than it is showing now because at that time it was showing to cross my front yard and now it's showing across the street from me," she said. "Is that not related to the lack of rain and will that plume not grow? The TCE's already there from previous reports. Now all we're waiting on now is the groundwater to be replenished. Is that not correct?"

Benefield said he would have to look at data from 2011, but addressed Keith's concern.

"I can tell you part of the on-site soil source control is for that purpose. So you cover that area with asphalt far past the area where we've actually seen the area of unacceptable levels and put the impermeable coating on it. So what we're trying to do is prevent any more sourcing of material into the aquifer. Now you could have rain that would get into the aquifer, but not picking up more source material through the site."

Marsha Brewer, whose mother lives on Jacobs Avenue, asked why it took the ADEQ since the early 2000s before it moved to tonight's recommended actions.

"Why has it taken 12 years for ADEQ to make some real changes for the residents of this area?"

"If you look through the timeline, I would hope that you would see that this has not been a stagnant process. In order, I think there are five phases of the investigation to get to the full nature and extent," Benefield said, adding that it takes time to confirm the location and source of the toxic chemicals found in the groundwater.

"It's typically a longer term process. It's a frustrating process. I can tell you I do these for sites all across the state and it typically takes a significant among of time to get to this point to select an ultimate remedy. Because what you want to do is when you select your ultimate remedy, you want to know that you have all the information."

City Director Mike Lorenz, who represents the area contaminated by the TCE plume, said he was not satisfied with the presentation of information tonight, calling it "a crappy feeling."

"It's the exact same thing we've heard over and over. And again it's a year later from when we first started talking about this and I don't see anything's been accomplished. Now it's a really crappy feeling because I don't feel like we've got any ability to make anything happen. You know, I don't feel like they're asking for comment. I feel like it's this is what we're doing that's the end of the story."

Benefield said all comments from the public will be addressed once a final RADD is submitted to the public later this year. But Keith said she felt very much the way Lorenz felt.

"It's the same old, same old, you know? They just have a different acronym for it."

Asked how she felt about ADEQ's assertion that they are doing what they believe is best with the data available to them, Keith expressed doubt.

"We've been trying for how long? They admit to 12 years that they've been working with Whirlpool. And Whirlpool worked on it 12 years before that trying to find out where the plume was. …They're only going to do what they have to do and ADEQ's not requiring a whole lot, so therefore they're not going to do a whole lot."

Jeff Noel, corporate vice president of communications and public affairs at Whirlpool, attended the meeting tonight and told a group of reporters after the meeting that he hoped for a speedy resolution so his company could get to work cleaning up the contamination.

"Tonight was a very important part of that process. That's one of the reasons we felt it was important to be here so we heard from the residents, we heard their questions, we heard their concerns. And all this will then be rolled into a process in which the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality will then respond to those questions in writing and shortly thereafter we'll hopefully reach an agreement with ADEQ and begin dealing with the site as shortly thereafter as possible."

Asked whether the company was prepared to make an offer for a financial settlement to residents impacted by the TCE plume, he only said residents would be treated "fairly."

"We have said repeatedly that we are going to treat the residents fairly. There have been lawsuits that have been filed. We respect the legal process and our attorneys are in communication with the attorneys representing the residents."

Benefield said all comments made at tonight's public meeting would be responded to in writing and taken into consideration when drafting the final RADD plan. A decision on final remediation proposals is expected by the end of the year.