Description of the American Brass Site - Essay Example

However, the buildings were not tampered with after the leasing of the site until during the cleanup exercise. Current reports indicate that the site is not occupied, but is under the ownership of R&B investments. The site borders two residential homes, and the EPA has carried out assessment tests of the quality of water in these residences after the clean-up process(United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2013).

Processes involved in the smelting and foundry activities in the process of exploiting brass posed certain risks of contamination to the soil and water in the area. Contamination at the site was also evident in other materials at the site. As outlined by EPA, the soil and water exhibited the highest rate of contamination, although a range of media at the site also exhibited a level of contamination. These media include fish media, sediment, fish tissue, and groundwater. Contamination occurred on both liquid-based and solid-based media. This contamination was associated with the waste handling process at the site during the brass smelting process. It appears that the relevant efficiency in waste handling was not attained, contributing to a high-risk factor of contamination to all the media at the site(United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2013). The contamination posed increased health threats because it affected the shallow water sources, the soils on site, and sediments. Assessment of the risk revealed that the highest contamination at the site was at the area in the closest proximity to the smelting and foundry facility that lay on the site. It is worth noting that a thorough assessment of the extent of contamination revealed that the drinking water in the adjacent residences was free from the contamination emanating from the site.

Analysis and assessment of the evident contamination resulting from the waste handling processes at the site revealed that several contaminants deserving of serious concern were evident at the site. Experts highlighted that both metals and polychlorinated biphenyls were the contaminants posing the greatest risk at the site. Investigations into the area highlighted that the metal boron and lead were some of the leading contaminants of concern. Other monitoring processes that analyzed the level of contamination in the wells revealed the presence of nitrate and ammonia as some of the critical contaminants. EPA experts working on the site identified these as the major contaminants posing health risks to the people living in the proximity of the site as well as those proving detrimental to the environment.

The cleanup activities are planned in a specific order beginning with extensive studies of the site, selection of the most effective remedy, designing the remedy, construction of the remedy plan and post-construction activities(United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2013). Usually, EPA takes different cleanup measures depending on the level of contamination at the site. Whereas some sites require energy action followed by a long-term remedial action plan of comprehensively studying the site ad developing an effective, clean-up resolution. EPA implemented an emergency removal procedure in 1996 that sought to get rid of all the lead-contaminated soils as well as any media or sediment that tested positive for metal contamination. The excavation process focused on removing all the contaminants of metal origin in the building and the soil.

In 1999, the implementation of a second clean-up plan was implemented that had the aim of disposing of all the waste materials at the site. In 2009, EPA carried out its final clean-up procedure that involved extensive soil excavation. Evidently, at the American Brass site, the removal activity occurred in 1999, while studies progressed until an effective remedy was selected in 2006. These studies included monitoring the contamination extent in the creeks and wells. In 2007, EPA designed the remedy that would be implemented in the cleanup process. The year 2010 saw the beginning of the construction, and post-construction thereafter. The site profile highlights that the cleanup process is complete. Post-construction activities are still underway (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2013).

This process requires the digging up of all the soil to enable a land refill process to take place or allow room for treatment. The digging process exposes contaminated debris and drums of chemicals available in the soil. The process targets to get rid of all the contaminated materials, reducing people’s access to the contaminant. After background, information on the site is obtained and appropriate standard construction equipment is selected by the depth and extent of contamination, the process begins. If the site is subject to a land refill, then the dug-up soil is loaded into a dump truck as excavation progresses.