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The Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has accepted a Voluntary Remediation Program application submitted by The Ohio River Terminals Company LLC. The application addresses environmental conditions at the West Virginia terminal site in Huntington.
The approximately 22.6-acre site stretches from 20th Street to 25th Street. The property was formerly operated by The Ohio River Terminals Company as a coal transfer and locomotive maintenance facility. It was used to transfer coal from railcars to barges. The site had several buildings and structures, including a maintenance building, a rotary dump building, a heating shed, a coal tipple and conveyance structures, an office building, and other support buildings. A railroad track yard and gravel and vegetated areas cover the remaining portions of the site.
Site operations ceased in December 2009. The tipple, locomotive shed, railroad tracks, and other site features were removed in 2011 and 2012. Environmental investigations indicated the presence of light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) in one monitoring well and it was removed and disposed of off-site periodically. Some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and arsenic were detected in soil samples at concentrations above the West Virginia De Minimis Industrial Soil and Migration to Groundwater Criteria (De Minimis Criteria). Certain VOCs and SVOCs, primarily petroleum related, were detected at concentrations above the De Minimis Groundwater Criteria in one monitoring well. Hexavalent chromium was detected at concentrations above the De Minimis Groundwater Criteria in four monitoring wells. It is anticipated that the future property use will continue to be industrial.
OER has negotiated a Voluntary Remediation Agreement (VRA) with the applicant.
Under the VRA, the applicant will work with the WVDEP to identify human health and ecological risks associated with current and potential future uses of the site; establish applicable remediation standards; and ensure that standards are maintained at the site. Upon completion of the remediation, a final report will be submitted to OER for review and approval.
West Virginia’s Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act encourages voluntary cleanups of contaminated sites, as well as redevelopment of abandoned and under-utilized properties, with an objective of counteracting the lack of development on sites with contamination or perceived contamination. By providing financial incentives to invest in brownfields, this approach protects communities and the environment while still promoting economic development in West Virginia.
Questions regarding the Voluntary Remediation Program or this application should be directed to either WVDEP Project Manager Bin Z. Schmitz (WVDEP—OER, 601 57th Street SE, Charleston, WV 25304; 304-926-0499, ext. 1286) or Licensed Remediation Specialist Fred Taylor (Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, 45 Farmington Drive, Plainville, CT 06062; 860-747-1800).