EPA/ROD/R01-98/130 1998 EPA Superfund Record of Decision: PINE STREET CANAL EPA ID: VTD980523062 OU 01 BURLINGTON, VT 09/29/1998 EPA 541-R98-130 <IMG SRC98130> DECLARATION FOR THE RECORD OF DECISION Pine Street Canal Superfund Site Burlington, Vermont STATEMENT OF PURPOSE This Decision Document presents the selected remedial action for the Pine Street Canal Superfund Site in Burlington, Vermont, developed in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. ºº 9601 et. seg. and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) as amended, 40 C.F.R. Part 300. The Regional Administrator for EPA New England has been delegated the authority to approve this Record of Decision. The Regional Administrator has redelegated this authority to the Director of the Office of Site Remediation and Restoration. The State of Vermont has concurred with the selected remedy. STATEMENT OF BASIS This decision is based on the Administrative Record which has been developed in accordance with Section 133(k) of CERCLA and is available for public review in Burlington, Vermont, at the Fletcher Free Public Library and Bailey Howe Library at the University of Vermont, and at the EPA New England Office of Site Remediation and Restoration Records Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The Administrative Record Index (Appendix D) identifies each of the items comprising the Administrative Record upon which the selection of the remedial action is based. ASSESSMENT OF THE SITE Actual or threatened releases of hazardous substances from this Site, if not addressed by implementing the response action selected in this Record of Decision, may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare, or to the environment. DESCRIPTION OF THE SELECTED REMEDY This Record of Decision sets forth the selected remedy for the Pine Street Canal Superfund Site. The major components of the selected remedy include: • Capping contaminated sediments in Canal and Wetland Subareas 1, 2,3,7, and 8, • Institutional controls for groundwater below the Site, • Institutional controls for land-use development, • Site boundary definition, • Long-term performance monitoring, and, • Five-year reviews. DECLARATION The selected remedy is protective of human health and the environment, attains federal and state requirements that are applicable or relevant and appropriate for this remedial action, and is cost-effective. This remedy does not satisfy the statutory preference for remedies that utilize treatment as a principal element to reduce the toxicity, mobility, or volume of hazardous substances, however, it does reduce the mobility of the hazardous substances through containment. This remedy utilizes permanent solutions and alternative treatment technologies to the maximum extent practicable. As this remedy will result in hazardous substances remaining on site above health-based levels and guidelines for ecological health, five-year reviews will be conducted after commencement of remedial action to ensure that the remedy continues to provide adequate protection of human health and the environment. <IMG SRC 98130A> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION I RECORD OF DECISION PINE STREET CANAL SUPERFUND SITE BURLINGTON, VERMONT SEPTEMBER 1998 PINE STREET CANAL SUPERFUND SITE TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SITE NAME, LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION..................................1 II. SITE HISTORY AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES..............................2 A. Land-Use History...............................................2 B. Environmental Responses........................................2 C. Enforcement History............................................4 III. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION..............................................4 IV. SCOPE OF REMEDIAL RESPONSE ACTION....................................5 V. SUMMARY OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS......................................6 A. Waste/Source Areas.............................................6 B. Surface and Subsurface Soils...................................7 C. Groundwater Contamination and Migration........................8 D. Surface Water..................................................8 E. Sediments......................................................9 F. Air............................................................9 G. Ecological Resources/Wetlands..................................9 VI. SUMMARY OF SITE RISKS...............................................11 A. Human Health Risk Assessment..................................11 B. Ecological Risk Assessment....................................17 VII. DEVELOPMENT AND SCREENING OF ALTERNATIVES...........................21 A. Statutory Requirements/Response Objectives....................21 B. Remedial Action Objective/Goals...............................22 C. Development of Technology and Process Options.................23 D. Technology and Alternative Screening..........................24 VIII. DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATIVES.........................................27 IX. SUMMARY OF THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES.................35 A. Evaluation Criteria...........................................35 B. Summary of the Comparative Analysis of Alternatives...........36 X. THE SELECTED REMEDY.................................................44 A. Capping.......................................................44 B. Stormwater Inflow Management..................................46 C. Performance Monitoring........................................46 D. Site Boundary Definition......................................47 E. Institutional Controls........................................47 F. Wetlands Restoration..........................................49 G. Cost..........................................................49 XI. STATUTORY DETERMINATIONS............................................49 A. The Selected Remedy is Protective of Human Health and the Environment.............................................50 B. The Selected Remedy Attains ARARs.............................50 C. The Selected Remedial Action is Cost Effective................52 D. The Selected Remedy Utilizes Permanent Solutions and Alternative Treatment or Resource Recovery Technologies to the Maximum Extent Practicable.............................53 E. The Selected Remedy Does Not Satisfy the Preference for Treatment That Permanently and Significantly reduces the Toxicity, Mobility or Volume of the of the Hazardous Substances as a Principal Element.............................54 XII. DOCUMENTATION OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES................................54 XIII. STATE ROLE..........................................................54 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS REFERENCES APPENDICES A. TABLES AND FIGURES B. APPLICABLE OR RELEVANT AND APPROPRIATE REQUIREMENTS C. STATE OF VERMONT DECLARATION OF CONCURRENCE D. ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD INDEX E. RESPONSIVENESS SUMMARY PINE STREET CANAL SUPERFUND RECORD OF DECISION I. SITE NAME, LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION The Pine Street Canal Superfund Site (VTD980523062) (the "Site"), is located on Pine Street in Burlington, Vermont, on the shores of Lake Champlain (Figure 1). The Site consists of an abandoned barge canal and turning basin, surrounding vegetated wetlands, and upland areas. It is hydraulically connected to Lake Champlain and is subject to flooding from the lake. The canal and turning basin constructed circa 1868, runs north-south on the western portion of the Site. Studies conducted under the direction of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 1988 have examined a 70- to 80-acre area (the "Study Area") which includes the properties between Lakeside Avenue to the south, Pine Street to the east, Vermont Railway property to the north, and the Vermont Railway and Lake Champlain to the west. The Site itself is defined as a much smaller 38-acre area (within the Study Area) where contaminants associated with wastes from the manufactured gas plant have been found. Figure 2 shows the Site boundaries, as defined in this Record of Decision. Currently, the majority of the Site is vacant. Surrounding land uses include industrial, commercial, and residential. It is estimated from 1990 census data that 1,450 people reside within a half-mile radius of the Site. The City of Burlington recognizes Pine Street as its major industrial corridor, and plans to encourage further economic development. The City also recognizes that the Site is a unique natural setting, and has in the past, considered rezoning the barge canal for recreation, conservation and open space. It is expected that future land use will be recreation/open space in the wetland areas along the lakefront, and commercial/industrial in the upland areas along the Pine Street corridor. The State of Vermont has reclassified the groundwater under the Site as Class IV, designating it suitable only for agricultural or commercial use, and prohibiting its use for drinking water purposes. Municipal sources supply potable water for all businesses and residences in the City. Several industrial facilities near the Site have deep bedrock wells that supply process water. Wetlands comprise approximately 21 acres of the Site and support a diversity of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. The wetland community types present on the Site are palustrine emergent wetland, palustrine open water, palustrine forested wetland, and palustrine scrub-shrub wetland. The wetlands and canal receive stormwater runoff from the Site and from three storm sewer culverts