Freedom Industries has submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection its remediation plan to address environmental conditions at the company’s Charleston storage tank facility, site of the Jan. 9 chemical spill of MCHM and PPH into the Elk River.
The plan was developed for Freedom Industries by Pennsylvania-based Civil & Environmental Consultants. It includes a summary of water quality sampling and remedial measures Freedom Industries has already implemented at the spill site. The plan also provides a schedule of activities, including site characterization and remediation of impacted soils and groundwater, which will begin once tank removal on the property’s northern end, where much of the contamination occurred, is complete.
Tank 396, which leaked the chemicals, is located on the northern end of the Freedom site. Preliminary information has indicated that the primary flow path of the chemicals from Tank 396 was to the north, where a culvert pipe and cobble fill provided the transport mechanism from the secondary containment area to the Elk River.
It is noted in the plan that remedial options described are preliminary and “presumptive” in nature and can change based on information obtained as part of the site characterization. According to the plan, “Despite these variables, it is important to note that the remedial options ultimately selected will be designed to achieve the overall objective of remediating the site to eliminate current and future threats to human health and the environment related to the MCHM release.”
Freedom Industries will submit a final remedial investigation report once enough information is available to clearly identify the extent of environmental impacts at the site.
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