DEQ 2006 Annual Report

011085 Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality

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This publication is issued by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, as authorized by Steven A. Thompson, Executive Director. Eight-hundred copies have been produced at a cost of $8,100.00. Copies have been deposited with the Publications Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. Printed on recycled content paper. 8/28/2006. Design by Denise A. Harkins.

011086 Contents

Contents ...... 3 Letter from Executive Director ...... 9 Environmental Quality Board Rulemaking Activity ...... 10 Environmental Quality Board...... 11 Air Quality Advisory Council ...... 12 Hazardous Waste Management Advisory Council...... 13 Radiation Management Advisory Council ...... 14 Solid Waste Management Advisory Council ...... 14 Waterworks and Wastewater Works Advisory Council ...... 15 Water Quality Management Advisory Council ...... 15 Small Business Compliance Advisory Panel ...... 16 Laboratory Services Advisory Council...... 16 Mission Statement and Goals ...... 17 Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Organization Chart...... 18

ADMINISTRATION ...... 19 Sunshine on Environmental Decision-Making: How DEQ Lawyers Foster Public Participation.....20 DEQ Spokesperson Lends a Hand in Katrina Relief Effort ...... 21

Awards and Special Recognition ...... 22 Administration Karl Heinzig Named Employee of the Year ...... 22 3 Employees Earn Professional Certification ...... 24

011087 Contents

Larry Gales Retires as Administrative Services Director...... 25 Sanger Contributes at National Brownfields Forum ...... 27 In Memory of Don Pendergraph (1957-2005) ...... 28 Two Lifetime Achievement Awards Earned by Shields ...... 29 Angela Brunsman Receives International Certification ...... 30 Cantwell Photos Displayed at Smithsonian...... 31 Monty Elder Graduates from Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute ...... 32

Air Quality Education Committee Provides Decade of Service to Oklahoma Citizens...... 32 Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality Water Quality Staff Recognized ...... 33 DEQ Green Team Keeps Oklahoma Beautiful ...... 34 DEQ Partners with OKAEE to Celebrate Biodiversity...... 35 DEQ Launches “My Facility” Initiative ...... 36 IT Development Team Improves Data Collection Processes ...... 37 DEQ Participates in EPA’s Central Data Exchange Network...... 39 DEQ Launches New Intranet Web Site...... 40 DEQ Upgrades Computer Training Facility ...... 41 New Employees Welcomed to DEQ...... 42

AIR QUALITY...... 43 4 Ancient Air ...... 44 Growing Pains: NSR Revises Standards That Define “Major” Plant Modifications...... 44

011088 Contents

Home Delivery ...... 45 Regulatory Changes Affect Air Quality Facilities and Permits ...... 46 Industries Implement Controls on Flash Emissions ...... 47 Ponca City Phase II Toxic Monitoring Completed ...... 48 Tulsa Air Toxic Monitoring Project ...... 49 New Air Toxics Rule Effective in August...... 49 AQD Works Toward BART Adoption...... 50 ScienceFest 2006 ...... 51 ScienceFest Through a Child’s Eye ...... 52 Tulsa Office Protects Public from Asbestos...... 54 Online Excess-Emissions Reporting Now Available ...... 55 Air Quality Enforcement Develops Alternate Policy ...... 56 Redbud Users Have Good Reporting Experience ...... 57 Once Again, Oklahoma Air Quality Escapes Nonattainment Status ...... 58 Oklahoma Joins Blue Skyways Collaborative ...... 61 Natural Gas Flash Initiative Finalized in December 2005...... 62

LAND PROTECTION ...... 63

Land Protection Division Introduction...... 64 2006 Annual Report DEQ Completes Preliminary Tar Creek Study...... 65 5 DEQ Data Viewer Focuses on Tar Creek ...... 66

011089 Contents

Tar Creek Superfund Site Located in Ottawa County, Oklahoma ...... 67 Imperial Refining Company Superfund Site...... 69 Tulsa Fuel and Manufacturing Superfund Site ...... 70 Rab Valley Lumber Preserving Site Cleanup Underway...... 71 New Life as Industrial Park for Henryetta Superfund Site ...... 72 Increased Controls for Radioactive Material Quantities of Concern ...... 74 Oklahoma Among Seven States Approved to Certify Industrial Radiographers ...... 76

Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority Receives Brownfield Certificate ...... 77 Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality BRAC Closure Benefits Oklahoma Towns...... 79 Canadian County Trash Fuels Brick Factory ...... 80 OKRA: A Statewide Recycling Partnership ...... 82 A+ for Kellyville School Playground Cleanup ...... 83 ROTC Firing Range Cleaned Up ...... 84

WATER QUALITY ...... 85 Water Quality Division Activities ...... 86

H2Oklahoma Festival a Huge Success ...... 87 DEQ Develops Regulations Working with Aggregate Industry ...... 88 GIS Day FY 2006 at the Capitol ...... 89 6 Public Access Increased to State’s Environmental Data ...... 89 Source Water Protection Tool to Aid Local Staff, Water Systems ...... 90

011090 Contents

DEQ Works with City of Tulsa to Reduce Wastewater Overflows ...... 91 Cooperating to Preserve Public Resources ...... 93 New Certifications for Distribution and Collection Operators...... 94

CUSTOMER SERVICES ...... 95 Customer Services Introduction ...... 96 Fulfilling Public Right-to-Know, CSD Publishes Annual TRI Report ...... 96 OKPHETS: Continued Collaboration with OSDH to Map Heart Defects ...... 98 One-Stop Filing of Tier II Forms Offers Utility and Convenience ...... 99 SEL Fees Receive Legislative Funding ...... 100 DEQ Laboratory Accreditation Works Toward Incorporating National Standards...... 100 Making Pollution Prevention Personal: More in Your Wallet; Less from the Environment ...... 101 DEQ Assists with Reopening Thomas Refinery ...... 102 SBAP Partners with Marginal Well Commission to Host Workshops in Oklahoma ...... 103 DEQ Changes Mercury Advisory Level for Fish Consumers ...... 103

LOCAL SERVICES ...... 105 Local Services Introduction ...... 106

Help for a Small Town...... 107 2006 Annual Report Interdivision Cooperation Aims to Help Pawnee County Subdivision...... 108 7 ECLS, OCIA Foster Cooperation Within On-Site Treatment Industry ...... 109

011091 Contents

ECLS Complaints Office: Always There to Take the Call ...... 110 Wellhead Protection Plans: ECLS Prepares Communities to Protect Drinking Water...... 111 ECLS Assists EPA With National Standards for On-Site Sewage Treatment Systems ...... 112 ECLS and the Clean Vessel Act: An Oklahoma Success Story on the Horizon...... 113 ECLS Helps Muskogee Deal with a Trashy Surprise ...... 114 Soil Profiling Leads to Better On-Site Sewage Treatment Systems ...... 115

APPENDICES ...... 117 Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality Fiscal Statistics ...... 118 Environmental Quality Report...... 133 Administrative Hearings...... 141 Criminal Enforcement Statistics...... 141 Solid Waste Fee Report ...... 142

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011092 Land Protection 2006 Land Protection

63 Annual Report

011093 Land Protection Division Introduction

Vegetation recovers after one of Oklahoma’s many wild fires.

Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality we produce are appropriately and responsibly managed and that historically polluted sites are restored. The division regulates disposal of solid waste, discarded tires, hazardous wastes, biomedical wastes and certain radiation sources. It also assists with household and commercial recycling programs, and provides the public with environmental Vegetation takes root after a fire in the canyon area of Western Oklahoma. education. Land Protection also specializes in cleanup and reuse of The fires that scorched the state viable state. These natural processes contaminated properties. during the winter months of 2005- do not usually occur in a timeframe Protecting the land from 2006 remind us of the natural cycle acceptable to humans. Fortunately, improper waste disposal safeguards of our environment. New growth people have learned to harness these surface water, ground water and springs from burned fields and the natural processes to improve our air from pollutants. LPD’s efforts 64 cycle of life continues. Natural stewardship of the land. strengthen the natural environmental processes also work The Land Protection Division’s environment by protecting our to return polluted sites to their (LPD) mission is to promote land ecosystems. LPD also ensures that natural state. Wind and water stewardship, ensuring that future Oklahoma’s land remains viable erosion, solar and bacteriological generations at least reap the same and productive for future degradation, fire, and plant benefits as the current generation. generations by reducing the absorption of chemicals can, over To do this, LPD must work to ensure human impact on the time, return contaminated land to a that human activities and the wastes environment.

011094 DEQ Completes Preliminary Tar Creek Study

DEQ recently completed the establishing the baseline for areas along Tar Creek at Douthat first year’s work on sampling and measuring metals entering these Bridge and Highway 69 are analysis of water quality and waters. Tar Creek was the subject showing higher lead and zinc sediments in Tar Creek, Spring of the first-year sampling report. concentration during high flow River and Neosho River, in The data collected are helping to periods than detected at other sites. northeast Oklahoma. The 2-year characterize water and sediment The data also show that iron is study is being conducted in quality and to evaluate movement settling into the creek’s sediment, cooperation with the U.S. of total and dissolved metals in the particularly between Veterans Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) and creek, which flows into the Neosho Boulevard and Central Street in the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe. The River and Grand Lake O’ the Miami, Oklahoma. In addition to collection of low- and high-flow Cherokees. water quality and sediment data, water quality and sediment samples Trends are beginning to U.S.G.S. collected 14 sediment is a monumental step toward appear in the initial data. The cores using a Geoprobe in the floodplain where Tar Creek intersects the 22nd Street Bridge in Miami. All core samples had detectable concentrations of aluminum, barium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel and zinc. A second year of sampling and analysis results also have been sent to EPA for approval.

Continued on next page Land Protection

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Above: Contaminant loading at sites along Tar Creek.

Left: Metals in Tar Creek.

011095 When complete, this project contribution is from Tar Creek in we may be able to begin reducing will concentrate clean-up efforts at Oklahoma and how much is from the concentration of metals and the areas with the highest levels of upstream states. Using the baseline improving the quality of the water metals. It also will help determine data and working with other that is entering Grand Lake O’ the how much of the metals agencies and neighboring states, Cherokees.

DEQ Data Viewer Focuses on Tar Creek

The capability of the Web- based GIS application, the DEQ Data Viewer, continues to grow. The Data Viewer organizes and presents information graphically to give Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality planners a better understanding of multi-dimensional data. DEQ recently added high-resolution (1/4 foot resolution) aerial photography, significantly enhancing the visual tool. The application is also known as the Tar Creek Data Viewer, since it was originally developed to support restoration activities at the Site before restoration: photo taken Summer 2003. Tar Creek Superfund site, where state, federal, tribal and private organizations are working together on various remediation, restoration and evaluation projects. For the Tar Creek project, the Data Viewer uses data specific to area activities that span three-quarters of a century, 66 from 1927 to the present, including historic mine maps and aerial photography. Photos accompanying this article reflect before-and-after images of an area near Picher that was recently restored as part of a joint effort among various state agencies. Site after restoration: photo taken late Winter 2003.

011096 Tar Creek Superfund Site Located in Ottawa County, Oklahoma

The Tar Creek Superfund site from traffic. The new asphalt under six years of age were offered spreads across 40 square miles in far contains approximately 50 percent the buyout in order to remove them northeastern Oklahoma, affecting chat, a beneficial reuse of that from potential exposure to lead from the towns of Quapaw, Commerce, material from the Superfund site. mine waste. In 2005, 51 qualifying Picher, North Miami and Cardin. The roads were prioritized for families sold their properties and The site is part of the former Tri- attention by the county moved from the area. A local trust State Mining Area that extended commissioner based on their traffic authority was designated to from northeastern Oklahoma loads, considering general use by implement the buyout and DEQ through southeast Kansas, and into local citizens and haul roads used by disbursed the trust funds. southwest Missouri. Extensive lead large trucks. and zinc mining from the early Tar Creek: Subsidence 1900s through the 1960s resulted in Tar Creek: Governor formation of acid mine water, Risk contaminating shallow ground water Henry’s Voluntary Following an 18-month and surface water with iron, sulfate, Buyout evaluation of subsidence risk in the zinc, lead and cadmium. In 2004, enabled by state area of Picher, Oklahoma, the U.S. Approximately 40 million cubic legislation, Governor Henry Army Corps of Engineers and a yards of chat (gravel contaminated initiated a voluntary Buyout and technical team presented their with lead and zinc) remain on the Relocation Assistance Plan at Tar findings at a public meeting on surface. Creek. Area residents with children Continued on next page The unique Oklahoma Plan for Tar Creek has worked to shrink the Superfund site, thanks to cooperation among state, federal and local agencies. The following is an update of successful projects in the area.

Tar Creek: Asphalting of Roads The Tar Creek Superfund Site Land Protection contains miles of roads that for 67 decades have had chat spread on them. With the cooperation of Ottawa County Commissioner John Clarke, approximately 15 miles have recently been paved with asphalt,

significantly reducing dust levels Man-made mountains of chat dot the Tar Creek landscape.

011097 Mine shaft full of rust-colored water.

Early mining operations in the Tri-State Mining Area.

Subsidence creates sink holes like this one next to Highway 69. The risk of subsidence is driving the new buyout and

relocation proposal. Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality January 31, 2006. Many area residences, businesses and roads that had been built above underground mine workings and abandoned mine shafts were declared to be at risk of collapse. Some were predicted to be more vulnerable than others. In response, federal, state and local officials collaborated to develop a voluntary buyout program. The buyout was modeled on the Governor’s plan for Tar Creek

On the left side of the aerial photo, the red and green holes (ponds) are clearly visible. implemented last year. The legislature amended that existing law to include the subsidence risks. Officials now are seeking funding. When this and related issues are resolved, the program will 68 prioritize offers for endangered properties directly over subsidence- prone areas, and then will extend the offers to those in under-mined areas. The road construction project gets Asphalt was applied to the roads to stop underway with the construction of the the migration of lead-contaminated dust. road base.

011098 Imperial Refining Company Superfund Site

The Imperial Refining Crew members bail Company is a 72-acre abandoned a monitoring well crude oil refinery. Located on both during sample collection. sides of State Highway 142 in northeast Ardmore, Carter County, the facility operated from 1917 to 1934, when it went bankrupt. The refinery’s tanks and buildings were dismantled sometime between 1934 and 1948. Several pits, waste piles and water impoundments contaminated with heavy metals and refining wastes

remain on the site. Wetlands in the Crew estimates the southern part of the property have thickness of the sediment in an on- been affected by surface-water runoff site pond. from the waste. Along with EPA, DEQ is working on a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study to characterize and quantify the nature and extent of on-site contamination, determine ecological and human health risk, and develop and evaluate cleanup alternatives. Field sampling of soil, ground water and sediment from on-site ponds was conducted from September 2005 through March Hollow-stem drill 2006. The data gathered during the core of waste on the site.

investigation will be compiled in a Land Protection report that will be ready for public 69 review in September 2006. The final report, due in December 2006, will help determine the best way to clean up the site.

011099 Tulsa Fuel and Manufacturing Superfund Site

The Tulsa Fuel and Manufacturing (TFM) Superfund Retorts (cylindrical site is located in Tulsa County, distillation vessels) were often reused Oklahoma, approximately 1.3 miles as construction south of Collinsville. Here, TFM materials. The used retorts contain operated a zinc smelter and lead smelter residue. roaster from 1914 through 1925. During World War I, zinc was in great demand for galvanizing armaments to prevent rust. The smelter operation used nine furnaces, a mechanical kiln building,

a condenser room, a two-million Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality gallon reservoir and a laboratory. Heavy metals are typical byproducts

of such smelter operations. Foundations from EPA placed the TFM site on the the old smelter furnaces. Superfund National Priorities List on January 19, 1999. DEQ is conducting a remedial investigation of the property. The Phase 1 Report (sampling) will be completed by spring 2006. This report will include recommendations for additional sampling during Phase 2 of the investigation. Phase 2 sampling is scheduled to be completed by October 2006, and the Remedial Smelter waste is in Investigation and Feasibility Study contact with the surface water on (RI/FS) should be completed by site. December 2006. 70

011100 Rab Valley Lumber Preserving Site Cleanup Underway

Southeastern Oklahoma’s rich Joslyn Manufacturing Company, history intertwines with the logging site operator from 1939 to 1955, and and lumber industries. Historically, EPA entered into an Administrative hazardous chemicals such as creosote, Order on Consent in 1996 for site pentachlorophenol and copper investigation and cleanup. DEQ arsenate were widely used to treat works closely with EPA on the wood products to withstand weather project and reviews all work that and other environmental elements. occurs on the site. The area’s former wood treatment During the first phase of the sites have left a legacy of pollution for cleanup, hazardous sludges from the southeastern Oklahomans. Rab impoundments were excavated, Valley is one of those sites. stabilized and transported for off-site Rab Valley is located southeast disposal. Contaminated soil from the of Panama, Oklahoma, in LeFlore process areas was excavated, Installing monitoring wells on site. County. The 30-acre site was home consolidated, treated and capped on to a wood treatment facility from preservatives not absorbed during site. In January 2006, additional about 1938 until it was abandoned in each process. cleanup aimed at reducing potential 1976. The facility was operated by Contamination is commonly risk from direct contact with different wood treatment companies found at old wood treating sites, contamination began. The measures, during this period; the last was the especially ones that operated prior to completed within six weeks, included Rab Valley Lumber Company. The environmental regulations. It was not the excavation and consolidation of company pressure-treated raw wood surprising that a 1993 EPA affected soils within and on either with pentachlorophenol and investigation showed numerous side of the southern drainage ditch creosote-laden fluids. A system of contaminants in the site’s soil, sludge, leading to the wetland area; lagoons (surface impoundments) was surface water and ground water. A installation of an interceptor trench used to reclaim and reuse the nearby wetland was also affected. for collecting non-aqueous phase liquid seeping through the soil; construction of security fencing to restrict unauthorized access to the Excavation

of wood potentially affected lowland areas; Land Protection treating and seeding of areas disturbed by field sludge from 71 a drainage work to establish a vegetative cover. channel that A Feasibility Study discussing leads to an oxbow lake. proposed long-term cleanup options for the site will be submitted to EPA and DEQ for review and comment. Meanwhile, DEQ will continue to inspect the site quarterly.

011101 New Life as Industrial Park for Henryetta Superfund Site

In the mid-1990s, two former funding. These ideas proved sound. Clean Utility Henryetta zinc smelters were To date, the City of Henryetta Corridors cleaned up as part of an EPA has acquired infrastructure funding Clean utility corridors can be in- Superfund Removal Action. When for an industrial access road and stalled when potentially contami- the cleanup was complete, the city utility lines for electricity, gas, water nated properties are being prepared began looking for businesses to and sewer. DEQ has overseen for safe industrial or commercial re- occupy the newly named Shurden removal of an area of capped waste use. The idea is to ensure that no Leist Industrial Park. However, and its replacement with clean fill, one mistakenly digs into a waste dis- potential tenants remained skeptical creating the clean corridor for the posal area or is exposed to residual about the site’s history of utility lines. Utility maintenance levels of contaminants that may have contamination, and for many years, workers now have access to been left in place after a cleanup. the industrial park remained vacant. company lines without risk of

Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality Utility companies often must exca- In 2004, Henryetta’s city exposure to contaminated materials. vate lines for installation and repair; officials and development authority The wastes removed were reburied they want to ensure that their work- met with DEQ to discuss how the and properly capped elsewhere on ers are not exposed to hazardous property might be reused, while the site. constituents in the process. This can addressing the concerns of future With cooperation from several be accomplished by removing con- tenants and preserving the interested agencies, project designs taminated media from the corridor(s) Superfund cleanup. DEQ staff and funding came together to ready where sewer, water, electrical, fiber suggested altering the original the site for its first new tenant: optic and gas lines are to be laid, Superfund remedy to install clean ProStreet Framework,LLC, a replacing it with clean material. The utility corridors (see sidebar). DEQ manufacturer of aftermarket measure allows utility workers to ser- also recommended contacting the motorcycle frames for producers such vice the site safely without special U.S. Economic Development as Honda and Harley Davidson, training or protective equipment. Administration about potential opened on May 22, 2006.

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ProStreet Framework, LLC, prepares to build motorcycle frames as the first tenant on the site.

011102 Aerial view of the new ProStreet Framework, LLC. Land Protection

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The mountains of waste that were left on site when the facility closed were cleaned up in the late 1990s.

011103 Increased Controls for Radioactive Material Quantities of Concern

State and federal agencies that regulate radioactive materials are among those whose concerns peaked following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Although Hollywood renditions of terrorists actually building a nuclear weapon are unrealistic, some are concerned that an adversary might use “dirty bombs” to scatter fine radioactive materials over a wide area. A dirty bomb is a conventional explosive

Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality device, but with radiation sources such as those used in medical

devices packed around the An Americium-Beryllium radiation source used in well-logging is held in tongs by a worker. explosive, rather than shrapnel. Such a bomb would be unlikely to pose a life-threatening hazard outside the blast radius, but the potential psychological and economic effects could be tremendous. In response to this kind of threat, the Radiation Management Section, Land Protection Division (LPD), is cooperating with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) and 33 other states to increase the security controls required for certain radioactive materials that companies may use in 74 “quantities of concern.” USNRC and the Agreement States will require approximately ten percent of their licensees to institute increased controls when they possess large quantities of the radioactive A new Gamma Knife arrives at Mercy Hospital. Powerful medical technology such as this uses radioactive sources to generate gamma rays. At each step, the equipment is checked for radiation leaks.

011104 materials. Security and control are always significant factors in radiation protection, but now the new program requires licensees to implement additional security elements, providing an even higher level of protection to the nation. Understanding and inspecting for adherence to security requirements is new for DEQ and for most of our licensees. To prepare, four DEQ staff members attended an 8-day course given by USNRC and Sandia National Laboratories. DEQ then held two day-long workshops for affected licensees and local law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma. The course helped attendees understand the new requirements and encouraged them to coordinate with one another. A total of 79 individuals attended. DEQ will continue to help licensees implement the new measures. The agency soon will be inspecting for compliance. DEQ also continues to work with USNRC and other Agreement States to assure Gamma Knife equipment is lifted into Mercy Hospital. consistent nationwide application of the new requirements.

Men continue to check for radiation leaks during installation of the Gamma Knife. Land Protection

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011105 Oklahoma Among Seven States Approved to Certify Industrial Radiographers

Industrial radiography is a form of nondestructive testing in which powerful radiation sources are used to detect flaws within even thick, dense objects. The testing is essential for analyzing welds in structures such as refinery pressure vessels, oil pipelines and aircraft parts. Tulsa is one of the major industrial radiography centers in the world. Many years ago, state radiation

programs, recognizing the need for Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality trained and safety-conscious Industrial radiographers use radiation to take images such as this one that can be used to detect flaws in objects. Industrial radiographers must prove their knowledge of radiation industrial radiographers, initiated safety by passing a certification test like the one administered by DEQ’s Radiation state testing and certification Management Section. procedures. In the late 1990s, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory each year, DEQ announces its industry in which workers Commission (USNRC) adopted the annual testing schedule. Five or six routinely move around the states’ idea as a federal requirement. tests are typically given, rotating country working at temporary job Now the test and certification between test centers in Tulsa and sites. A number of radiographers programs must be approved by a Oklahoma City. Occasionally tests come to Oklahoma for testing committee of USNRC and state may be scheduled elsewhere if through the DEQ program from experts before they can issue enough radiographers request testing states as far away as California, certification cards. at a location on a specific date. DEQ Wyoming and Florida, where To earn certification, Oklahoma tests about 96 candidates each year; testing isn’t available. radiographers must pass a computer- an average of 74 pass and receive The DEQ radiation staff is graded test on radiation safety. The certification cards. proud that Oklahoma is one of test requires them to correctly Radiographers are required to only seven states approved to perform exposure calculations, have their certification cards with certify radiographers. As part of demonstrate knowledge of them whenever they work with its commitment to radiation 76 Oklahoma radiation safety rules, and radioactive materials. USNRC safety, DEQ will continue to demonstrate understanding of survey and state radiation programs provide this important service for instrumentation and radiography recognize each other’s a technology that is of great equipment. Around the beginning of certification cards, critical in an importance in Oklahoma.

011106 Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority Receives Brownfield Certificate

New Oklahoma City residents are often surprised to learn that Bricktown – now a thriving, multi- use, downtown residential, retail and entertainment area – used to be an oil and gas field. In fact, the area has been active commercially and industrially throughout the state’s history. Oil and gas-related industries, railroad operations, manufacturing, warehousing and retail stores all have come and gone. Over time, many of those activities contaminated the soil and ground water with gasoline and diesel fuel. During the past decade,

however, the area has benefited from Oklahoma City citizens voted to pay for improvements to Bricktown, such as the beautiful extensive soil and ground water canal. The “build it and they will come” public investment philosophy enticed many private investors to the area. investigation and soil remediation spurred by a public mandate to revitalize the area. In 1998, in its quest to redevelop and revitalize Bricktown, the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority (OCURA) enrolled 21 acres of property in the Oklahoma Brownfields Program. Upon completing the program in December 2005, OCURA

received a Brownfield Certificate, Land Protection clarifying the environmental issues 77 attached to the property and

Continued on next page

The public investment and the Brownfield Certificate helped draw businesses such as Sonic World Headquarters, Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar, and Bass Pro. New construction continues in Bricktown.

011107 Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality

Harkins Bricktown Cinema is also located on the canal.

limiting liability for new owners, restaurants, a multi-screen theatre, a area are creating hundreds of jobs tenants and lenders. combined retail-residential and a vastly improved tax base. Bricktown continues to develop development, and the canal with its Tourism is growing as word spreads a new generation of mixed park and recreation areas all are part about Bricktown’s resources. The commercial and residential uses. of Bricktown’s revival. Renewed revitalization of Bricktown is The new Sonic corporate business, residential and shaping up to be a real Brownfields headquarters, several new recreational opportunities in the Program success story.

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011108 BRAC Closure Benefits Oklahoma Towns

More than 90 Oklahoma communities are host to National Guard armory facilities. Recently, the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Committee recommended replacing the majority of these historic facilities with Central Training Centers. The facilities would then revert to or be donated to the communities, depending on the nature of the original land transfer. The towns are pleased to take ownership of these magnificent buildings, which hold a special place in the memories of most residents. Before The Watonga Armory is one of several armories to be returned to their communities. the property transfer can occur, however, environmental issues connected with the armories must be resolved. DEQ is assisting the Oklahoma Military Department, the Department of Central

Services and local communities with the U N D U S E U ND task. In 2006 the legislature provided AL EXPE FFORTS M E O N funding to help in this endeavor. V I N ’ O In general, the age of the buildings almost certainly means that they will contain problematic amounts of asbestos and lead paint, as well as PCB-

T

R A T containing light fixtures. The most D R I O TI PP complicated environmental problem, ON PRIDE SU however, is a leftover from indoor firing

ranges. These were equipped with steel Land Protection or concrete backstops that redirected 79 bullets into sand traps below. Over time, lead from the bullets contaminated the sand, turning it into hazardous waste. DEQ is honored to help resolve this and other associated environmental problems in order to preserve the historically Various unit patches of the Oklahoma National Guard. significant buildings for renewed community use. 011109 Canadian County Trash Fuels Brick Factory

Canadian County Landfill, Boral Bricks’ system will be pipeline will end at the north end of a operated in Union City by the installed in the west lobe of the kiln located on Boral Bricks’ property. Oklahoma Environmental landfill, with expansion capacity. The kiln will burn the fuel in a Management Authority (OEMA), has Extraction wells will be distributed mixture with 65 to 79 percent natural been collecting waste since 1974. The across the surface of the landfill. The gas. Boral Bricks anticipates that in facility expects to continue in business gas will be collected by vacuum and approximately 12 years, the kiln will with some modifications for another transported to a refrigeration and be able to use landfill gas as its entire 40 years. As with all landfills, waste compression system. The 2-mile fuel source. decomposition at the site produces significant methane gas. This will continue to occur for at least a decade after closure.

Early in 2005, Boral Bricks, Inc. Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality in Union City began constructing its newest facility. The company uses landfill gas for fuel at other locations and was glad to have the option available in Union City, as well. Planning to meet about one-third of his natural gas fuel needs with landfill methane by November 2006, President Bob Kepford said, “Having access to the landfill would provide a fuel for us at a constant price.” The company plans to construct a collection and treatment system, along with a 2-mile pipeline to transport methane from the landfill to its property. David Griesel, General Manager of the OEMA landfill, says, “This is an exciting project both for 80 the authority and for Boral. It’s an upside for the authority because at some point in time, we would have to install the gas collection systems and do something with the gas. This would save the authority a significant amount of capital.” The Boral Bricks plant in Union City will be recycling methane from the nearby Canadian County Landfill.

011110 The manufacture of bricks is fuel-intensive. Boral Bricks will manage its fuel costs Drill rig installs gas collection wells in the Canadian by using landfill gas for a portion of its fuel needs. County Landfill.

Driller guides the large drill bit in preparation of installing gas collection well. Land Protection

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011111 OKRA: A Statewide Recycling Partnership

The Oklahoma Recycling Association (OKRA) is an organized network of interested individuals and communities working to promote recycling. This year, DEQ hosted OKRA work group meetings to help members develop action plans for achieving the group’s objectives of increasing recycling market development, communications and outreach, waste exchange, K-12 education,

Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality and recycling policy. DEQ’s Susie Shields serves as OKRA’s president.

Computers and other electronics contain valuable metals and hazardous material Plastic is less often recycled, partly because it is more difficult to process. Its value, however, and should be more widely recycled. is increasing with the climbing price of oil. 82

011112 A+ for Kellyville School Playground Cleanup

The Upper Elementary School parent company, Permalife equipment. in Kellyville, Oklahoma, had a Corporation, to fix the problem. The playground was soon safe surfacing waste problem on its The playground was graded with a for children to use again. playground. Chunks of broken glass box blade to remove the top six Donations of equipment, employee and metal kept appearing after heavy inches of debris-containing soil, time and effort, “regrind” rains, presenting an obvious danger which was disposed of properly. woodchips, and mulch from used to the children who played there. Next, finely ground woodchips tires made the project affordable School employees repeatedly were spread over the entire area. for the small school district. The removed the debris by hand, but the Pour & Play™, a rubber mulch district gave DEQ a much- next rain would bring more to the made from recycled tires, was appreciated A+ for its part in the surface. The school needed a placed under the playground project. permanent solution. DEQ’s Land Reclamation Program specializes in finding innovative, affordable ways to deal with sites that sometimes do not normally fall within the jurisdiction of agency programs. Investigating the history of the property, DEQ could find no record of a dump or A worker collects a bucket of mulch for School officials assist with spreading the the playground. Pour & Play™ rubber product. landfill. A store used to be located on the land. DEQ staff concluded that perhaps the store owner dumped or burned trash on the site, leaving behind the glass and metal debris, or perhaps the demolition or destruction of the structure could have been responsible. DEQ believed that the problem was

contained within the top foot of soil, Land Protection and therefore was not the result of an undocumented landfill or other 83 extensive buried-waste problem. DEQ partnered with the Kellyville School System, the Okmulgee County Conservation Marvin Boatright, LPD Land Reclamation Program, and Ron Jackson, Superintendent of District, the City of Tulsa, Bristow Kellyville Schools, take a break from spreading Pour & Play™. Rubber Recycling, LLC, and its

011113 ROTC Firing Range Cleaned Up

Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Oklahoma, is closer to Texas, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico than to Oklahoma City, so PSU officials depend on the local DEQ office to answer their environmental questions. PSU

recently had a small environmental Panhandle State University in Goodwell, The firing range is prepared for cleanup. problem arise. The university Oklahoma, in Texas County attracts On the far wall, the area of bullet impact is students from the five-state area. visible. wanted to use the basement of a classroom building, but the space The crew begins to had been used previously as an move the firing range sand into drums for Oklahoma Department Oklahoma of Environmental Quality ROTC firing range. Indoor firing disposal. ranges often are contaminated with lead, concentrated in the sand that absorbs the bullet’s energy after it hits the steel backstop and drops into a sand trap. University staff turned to the local DEQ Environmental Complaints and Local Services office for advice and assistance. ECLS contacted the Land Protection Division (LPD) to learn how the sand might be reused. Sampling data indicated that the sand was too highly contaminated for any reuse unless it was first extensively treated. However, LPD suggested, a waste disposal company that was facing a DEQ-imposed fine might be willing 84 to remove and dispose of the sand in lieu of a portion of the fine. The company in question agreed, and the cleanup was successfully completed in May 2006. (From left to right) Lin Kottke, DEQ ECLS, Larry Peters, PSU Vice-President of Fiscal Affairs, David Bryant, PSU President, and Bob Scott, Superintendent of Physical Plant, check out the progress of the cleanup.

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