SDMS Document RECORD OF DECISION 108612 Operable Unit One Cornell-Dubilier Electronics Superfund Site South Plainfield, Middlesex County, New Jersey United States Environmental Protection Agency Region II September 2003 500001 DECLARATION STATEMENT RECORD OF DECISION SITE NAME AND LOCATION Cornell-Dubilier Electronics, Inc. Site (EPA ID# NJD9815.57879) Borough of South Plainfield, Middlesex County, New Jersey Operable Unit 1 . STATEMENT OF BASIS AND PURPOSE This decision document presents the Selected Remedy to-address Operable Unit 1 of the Cornell-Dubilier Electronics Superfund Site (the "Site"), consisting of contaminated soil and interior dust at properties in the vicinity of the former Cornell-Dubilier Electronics (CDE) facility, in South Plainfield, New Jersey, which was chosen in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, as amended (CERCLA), and to the extent practicable, the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan^. ..This._._ decision is based on the Administrative Record file for the Site. The State of New Jersey does not concur with EPA's Remediation Goal of 1 part per million (1 ppm) for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil. However, the State otherwise concurs with the Selected Remedy. ASSESSMENT OF THE SITE The response action selected in this Record of Decision (ROD) is necessary to protect public health, welfare or the environment from actual or threatened releases of hazardous substances from the Site into the environment. DESCRIPTION OF THE SELECTED REMEDY The Selected Remedy described in this document involves the remediation of PCB contamination that is found on residential, commercial, and municipal properties located in the vicinity of the former CDE facility. This is the first of three planned remedial phases, or operable units, for the CDE Site, identified as Operable Unit 1 (OUl). A second operable unit is planned to. address the contaminated soils and buildings at the former CDE facility, and a third and final operable unit will address contaminated groundwater at the Site, and contaminated sediments of the Bound Brook. The major components of the Selected Remedy include: • excavation of an estimated 2,100 cubic yards of contaminated soil from approximately 16 properties, backfilling with clean fill,' and property restoration as necessary; 500002 transportation of the contaminated soil off-site for disposal, with treatment as necessary; • • indoor dust remediation where PCB-contaminated dust is encountered; and, - • where necessary, temporary relocation of residents during the indoor remediation. Ks described in more detail in the Decision Summary, EPA's studies to date have identified four properties where actions need to be taken, and a study area of approximately 59 properties that reguire expanded soil and interior dust sampling to determine if additional properties require remediation. EPA has estimated that this sampling may identify as many as 12 additional properties, and the Selected Remedy takes into account the likelihood that some of these properties may require some degree of remedial response. In addition, the Selected Remedy requires a re-evaluation of the 13 residential properties where soil removal actions have already been performed, to ensure that ..-those .cleanups.-.are..consistent with the remediatiion goals _ established here. The Selected Remedy will be the final remedy for properties in the vicinity of the CDE Site. DECLARATION OF STATUTORY DETERMINATIONS Part 1: Statutory Requirements The Selected Remedy is protective of human health and the environment, complies with Federal and State requirements that are legally applicable or relevant and appropriate to the remedial action, and is cost-effective. The Selected Remedy utilizes permanent solutions and alternative treatment (or. resource recovery) technologies to the maximiom extent practicable. Part 2: Statutory Preference for Treatment Based on the sampling performed to date, the contaminated soil will not require treatment to meet the requirements of off-site disposal facilities. The Selected Remedy does not meet the statutory preference for the use of remedies that employ treatment that reduces toxicity, mobility-or volume as a principal element. Part 3: Five-Year Review Requirements Because the Selected Remedy will not result in hazardous . substances remaining on. affected properties above health-based levels, a statutory five-year review is not required. -2- 500003 ROD DATA CERTIFICATION CHECKLIST The following information is included in the Decision Summary section of this ROD. Additional information can be found in the Administrative Record for this Site. • Chemicals of concern and their respective concentrations may be found in the "Site* Characteristics" section. • Baseline risk represented by the chemicals of concern may be found in the "Stommary of Site Risks" section. • A discussion of cleanup levels for chemicals of concern may be found in the "Remedial Action Objectives" section. • A discussion of source materials constituting principal threats may be found in the "Principal Threat Waste" section. .? Current .-and..reasonabl.y...anticipated. future.._land._u.s.e assumptions are discussed in the "Current and Potential Future Site and Resource Uses" section. A discussion of potential land uses that will be available at the Site as a result of the Selected Remedy are discussed in the "Remedial Action Objectives" section. Estimated capital, annual operation and maintenance (O&M), and total present worth costs are discussed in the "Description of Alternatives" section. Key factors that led to selecting the remedy (i.e., how the Selected Remedy provides the best balance of tradeoffs with respect to. the balancing and modifying criteria, highlighting criteria key to the decisions) may be found in the "Comparative Analysis of Alternatives" and "Statutory Determinations" sections. ^ Regic«^l Administrator Region II -3- 500004 DECISION SUMMARY Operable Unit One Cornell-Dubilier Electronics Site South Plainfield, Middlesex County, New Jersey United States Environmental Protection Agency Region II September 2003 500005 TABLE OF CONTENTS page SITE NAME, LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION 1 SITE HISTORY AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES ....... 2 HIGHLIGHTS OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION ....... 4 SCOPE AND ROLE OF THIS OPERABLE UNIT 5 SUMMARY OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS 5 CURRENT AND POTENTIAL FUTURE SITE AND RESOURCE USES . .8 SUMMARY OF SITE RISKS .......... 9 REMEDIAL ACTION OBJECTIVES ...... 15 DESCRIPTION -OF REMEDIAL ALTERNATIVES . .-, . ,...-, 16 _ COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 20 PRINCIPAL THREAT WASTE ' . 26 SELECTED REMEDY . 26 STATUTORY DETERMINATIONS 28 DOCUMENTATION OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES 33 APPENDICES APPENDIX I FIGURES APPENDIX II ^TABLES APPENDIX III ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD INDEX APPENDIX IV STATE CONCURRENCE LETTER APPENDIX V RESPONSIVENESS SUMMARY 500006 SITE NAME, LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION The Cornell-Dubilier Electronics (CDE) Site is located at 333 Hamilton Boulevard, South Plainfield, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The Site includes three operable unitis. Operable Unit 1 (OUl) consists of residential, commercial, and municipal properties located in the vicinity of the former CDE facility. Operable Unit 2 (0U2) addresses contaminated soils and buildings at the former CDE facility. The third and final operable unit (0U3) will address contaminated groundwater and contaminated sediments of the Bound Brook. The former CDE facility, now known as the Hamilton Industrial Park, consists of approximately ,26 acres containing 18 buildings that are currently used by a variety of commercial and industrial tenants. The facility is bounded on the northeast by the Bound Brook and the former Lehigh Valley Railroad, Perth Amboy Branch (presently Conrail); on the southeast by the Bound Brook and a property used by the South Plainfield Department of Public Works; on the southwest, across Spicer Avenue, by single-family residential properties; and on the northwest, across Hamilton Boulevard, by mixed residential and commercial properties (see Appendix I, Figure 1). CDE operated at the Site from 1936 to 1962, manufacturing electronic components including, in particular, capacitors. PCBs and chlorinated organic solvents were used in the manufacturing process, and it has been alleged that during CDE's period of operation, the company disposed of PCB-contaminated materials and other hazardous substances at the Site. These activities evidently led to widespread chemical contamination at the facility, as well as migration of contaminants to areas nearby. PCBs have been detected in the groundwater, soils and in building interiors at the industrial park, at adjacent residential,. commercial, and municipal properties, aind in the surface water and sediments of the Bound Brook. High levels of volatile organic compouiids (VOCs) have been found in the facility soils and in groundwater. Since CDE's departure from the facility in 1962, it has been operated.as a rental property, with over 100 commercial and industrial companies operating at the facility as tenants. The CDE Site is on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Priorities List (NPL). EPA is the lead agency, and the New Jersey Department, of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is the support agency. 500007 SITE HISTORY AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES Operations and State and Federal Response Actions In June 1994, at the request of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), EPA collected