11.03.2011
West Anniston Foundation
US Environment Protection Agency Proposed Record of Decision for Operable Unit 3
On October 22, 2013, the West Anniston Foundation (WAF) conducted a Focus Group Meeting. The purpose of the meeting wasto have The Court’s Special Master, Attorney Doug Jones,and the Technical Master, Mr. Thomas Dahl toprovide information to the citizens of Anniston, Alabama on US EPA Final ruling on the Record of Decision (ROD) for Operable Unit-3 (OU-3). OU-3 is identified as the plant site.
The meeting was moderated bythe West Anniston Foundation’s Technical Advisor (TA), Mr. Bertrand Thomas, P.G.Notice members of the Anniston Community Advisory Group (CAG) was in attendance which included: Mr. David Baker,President, WalterFrazier, Vice President,and Ms. ShirleyCarter.
There were over 100 residents present. Absent from the meeting were members from Solutiaand U.S. EPA.
The meeting opened with the Special Master (SM), Mr. Jones, explaining that the role of the SM wasto perform oversight of the Consent Decree (CD) which encompasses both legal and technical issues. The SM is to report all legal and technical issues to Judge Bowder. Judge Bowder was appointed after the retirement of Judge Green. Mr. Jones explained that he was an attorney and he along with Attorney Amy Gallimoreis responsible for overseeing the legal matters pertaining to the Consent Decree. This includes: performing oversight of Anniston Community Advisory Group (CAG), making sure that Solutia’s obligation to the terms of the CD and to the Record of Decisions (RODs) are met. Mr. Jones will also oversee negotiations between U.S. EPA and Solutia.
Mr. Jones has solicited the services of Mr. Thomas Dahl to aide in the technical oversight of the Consent Decree. Mr. Thomas Dahlwas chosen to perform the technical oversight because of his experience as an EPA Project Manager and experience with similar sites. Mr. Jones pointed out that as a Representative of the Court, he could not recommend nor participate in law-suits related to the Consent Decree. Mr. Jones stated that his job was exclusively dedicated to performing oversight for Judge Bowder. Mr. Jones also stated that the ROD for OU-3was completed February 28, 2013, and was filed March 8, 2013 in the U.S.District Court, North District of Alabama. Judge Bowder presided over the hearing and the final ruling that Solutia will be responsible for remediating the plant site in Anniston, Alabama.
Mr. Jones introduced Mr. Dahl, the technical side of his team. Mr. Dahl provided some background information to the community on the major achievements that has been accomplished through the Remedial Investigation (RI) and Feasibility Studies (FS). Mr. Dahl also noted that the ROD for Operable Unit OU-1 and OU-2, (residential and commercial sites), are in the process of being finalized.
Mr. Dahl informed those in attendance that Solutia has remediated over 500 properties under the residential interimemergency clean-up efforts.However, Solutia will be addressing areas where concrete pads were left in place at residential and commercial locations underOU1/OU-2 RI/FS and will address how to best remediate/or clean-up these areas.
The meeting was then opened to the community for discussion.
Points of discussion:
Community: Will Solutia be obligated to clean-up the Plant Site?
SM: Yes, under the new ROD a new CD was created and signed by Solutia and U.S. EPA. This new CD obligates Solutia to remediate the Plant site.
Community: When will Solutia complete the remediation of OU-1/OU-2 (residential and commercial clean-up?
SM: Solutia has already remediated over 500 properties under the emergency cleanupand has completed the RI (the RI, define the contaminations, the location and extent of contaminations) and the ecological risk assessment(the ecological risk assessment assess the risk to animals). These documents were already in the hands of US EPA for review. From these documents,US EPA will conduct the Human Health Risk Assessment for OU-1/OU-2. Also from these documents Solutia will conduct a Feasibility Study (FS determines the cost associated with the clean up). This document should be completed by 2014, at the same time work is being conducted on Operable Unit-4 (OU-4), water bodies.
TA: Solutia has cleaned-up over 500 properties; however, the community was still looking to be a part of the solution by participating in the Institution Control Plan. Solutia has expressed the willingness to meet with the community and discuss the issues surrounding the Institution Control Plan.
Community: What wasmeant by, “there was no reasonable risk to the community”?
SM/TA: Mr. Dahlattempted to explainto the attendees how U.S. EPA determines the risk to a community. His response did not resonate well with some citizens inattendance. The TA requested that this question be referred to ATSDR who is being scheduled to meet with the CAG in the near future.
Community: Was it ok to eat the fish?
TA: There is a fish advisory posted along Choccolocco Creek.
Community: Is the groundwater contaminated?
MS/TA: There are areas where groundwater contaminationis a concern. One location is north of the plant facility. This area was under study and the groundwater around the plant was being contained by a groundwater system that prevents groundwater from migrating off-site. It should be noted that the people in Anniston receives potable water from the City of Anniston from the Cold Water Spring Treatment Plant. The TA went on to explain that if a resident is using well water, that person can call EPA to test their well water, if that has not already been done by Solutia or U.S. EPA. There was a well survey conducted at the beginning of the OU-1/OU-2 investigation.The MS added that the CAG could also be a source for information concerning the community.
There were questions concerning air sampling, those questions will also be referred to ATSDR
The TA thanked Mr. Jones and his team for sharing with the community the final ruling on OU-3 and other concerns.