DNREC to update community June 19 on Hockessin Ground Water Plume Site investigations

Agency will be joined by U.S. EPA and Delaware Division of Public Health at Hockessin Memorial Hall

DOVER (June 14, 2017) – Representatives from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) will update the public about the contaminated Hockessin Ground Water Plume Site. The update will be held at the monthly meeting of the Greater Hockessin Area Development Association (GHADA) set for 7 p.m., June 19 at Hockessin Memorial Hall, 610 Yorklyn Road, Hockessin, DE 19707.

DNREC and EPA have been investigating contamination from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in some ground water wells which supply the Hockessin area’s drinking water. Public drinking water in the area is provided by Artesian Water Company, and is treated to remove VOCs. The finished drinking water continues to meet federal and state safe drinking water standards, according to Artesian’s annual water quality reports.

The primary ground water contaminant of concern in the Hockessin area is tetrachloroethylene (PCE), most commonly used as a dry-cleaning solvent and industrial degreaser. PCE, a VOC which can cause adverse human health effects, was identified in a commercial irrigation well, three residential wells, and several public supply wells in the Artesian Water Company’s Hockessin well field. DNREC installed water treatment systems at the three residential properties impacted by the VOC contamination.

The sources of the ground water contamination have not been fully determined. DNREC has worked with several potential responsible parties, and has completed numerous environmental investigations and remedial efforts at sites of potential concern. Subsequently, DNREC has requested additional assistance from the EPA to help fully investigate the area, and identify the sources of the VOC contamination in ground water.

At the meeting, DNREC and the EPA will provide information on ground water well testing results for residential properties, along with 2016-2017 environmental assessment work completed by EPA on ground water contamination in the area. The EPA is using its Superfund authority and resources to determine if the site warrants further long-term investigation and cleanup. EPA’s investigations also could result in the site being listed on the National Priorities List, the list of sites eligible for remedial action financed under the federal Superfund program. DNREC, DPH, Artesian and EPA representatives will be available to answer questions.

For more information regarding the Hockessin Ground Water Plume Site, please visit: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/dwhs/SIRB/Pages/Hockessin-Ground-Water-Plume-Site.aspx, or contact:

Timothy Ratsep, Administrator; Paul Will, Program Manager; or Christina Wirtz, Outreach Ombudsman
DNREC Site Investigation and Restoration Section; 302-395-2600
Email: Timothy.Ratsep@delaware.gov; Paul.Will@delaware.gov; or Christina.Wirtz@delaware.gov

Media Contact: Melanie H. Rapp, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902; Melanie.Rapp@delaware.gov


Delaware Recycling Public Advisory Committee to meet Wednesday, April 19 in Dover

DOVER – Delaware’s Recycling Public Advisory Council (RPAC) will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 19 at Grotto’s Pizza, 1159 North DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901.

RPAC agenda topics include:

  • Call to order, introductions
  • Public comments (20-minute cap, priority given to written comments)
  • Approval of minutes from January and March meetings
  • Old business
  • Membership status
  • Short- and long-term goals
  • New business
  • Recycling market update
  • Additional public comments

The Recycling Public Advisory Council was enacted into law by Senate Bill 234 in May, 2010, and charged with advising the Governor’s Office, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority on all aspects of recycling, including: development of grant criteria and selection of applications; a methodology for measuring recycling rates; and possible outreach activities designed to achieve higher recycling rates.

For more information about RPAC, please visit www.dnrec.delaware.gov/whs/awm/Info/Pages/RPAC.aspx.

For more information or for directions to the meeting location, please contact Jackie Howard, DNREC Solid & Hazardous Waste Management Section, at 302-739-9403, ext. 8.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 82

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DNREC’s next scrap tire recycling drop-off set for Saturday, April 1 at Middletown DelDOT Yard

DOVER – DNREC is once again rolling out an opportunity for Delaware residents to recycle their old and disused tires at a Scrap Tire Drop-Off Day put on by the Division of Waste & Hazardous Substances. The event is scheduled from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., rain or shine, Saturday, April 1 at the Middletown DelDOT Yard, 5369 Summit Bridge Road, Middletown, DE 19709.

The drop-off event enables residents to bring up to 10 passenger car or light duty truck tires from their households for recycling. Scrap tires from businesses, commercial dealers, large truck or equipment tires, tires on rims or bicycle tires will not be accepted. Scrap tire drop-off is limited to Delaware residents and requires proof of residency in the form of a driver’s license or utility bill.

DNREC’s Solid & Hazardous Waste Management Section implements the scrap tire program. The program, currently responsible for removing large, unsightly scrap tire piles throughout the state, will soon include a scrap tire pile compliance program. Scrap tire piles can create environmental hazards, blight the landscape and contribute to the increasing population of mosquitoes. Careful management of scrap tire piles can help in minimizing risk.

The Delaware Scrap Tire Management Program is funded by a state fee of $2 for each new tire sold. Enacted Jan. 1, 2007, the fee is diverted to the Scrap Tire Management Fund, a matching fund and program created to remove and address scrap tire piles statewide.

For more information regarding the Scrap Tire Drop-Off Day, for assistance with removing a qualifying scrap tire pile from your property, or scrap tire management in the state, please visit DNREC’s website http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/dwhs/Info/Pages/ScrapTire.aspx or contact the Scrap Tire Management Program at 302-739-9403, option 3.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 71

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DNREC issues cease and desist order to Wilmington oil recycling company Heritage-Crystal Clean, LLC for hazardous waste violations

DOVER – DNREC Secretary David Small has issued a cease and desist order to Heritage-Crystal Clean, LLC for violations of Delaware’s laws and regulations governing hazardous waste management.

Heritage-Crystal Clean, LLC (HCC) owns and operates a used oil recycling facility located at 505 South Market Street in Wilmington that previously did business as International Petroleum Corp. (IPC) of Delaware.

On Feb. 21, HCC shipped a load of waste generated from the company’s cleaning of onsite tanks for subsequent processing (solidification) and offsite treatment. During transport, some of the waste material was released from the vehicle carrying it and spilled onto Pennsylvania roadways. Pennsylvania state officials are investigating that release.

An investigation by DNREC’s Solid & Hazardous Waste Management Section has determined that, based on analytical data provided by HCC, the leaking container (vacuum box V-414) and six other containers exceeded the regulatory limit for total organic halogens. Delaware’s hazardous waste regulations include a provision that presumes any used oil exceeding the regulatory limit for total organic halogens is hazardous waste. Additionally, company data revealed that HCC’s vacuum box V-414 contained waste that exceeded the regulatory limit for benzene, thus characterizing the transported material as hazardous waste.

Based on that information, HCC failed to make an accurate hazardous waste determination and failed to utilize a hazardous waste manifest for the shipments. The cease and desist order requires that HCC immediately cease operations involving emptying and cleaning out onsite tanks. The order also requires HCC to submit a plan describing how the contents of remaining onsite tanks will be sampled and analyzed to ensure accurate hazardous waste determinations are made prior to shipping them offsite.

HCC pled guilty on behalf of IPC in US District Court in Wilmington Feb. 2 to environmental crimes, including failing to properly characterize waste generated from the cleanout of onsite tanks and failing to utilize a hazardous waste manifest for those shipments. HCC’s guilty plea for environmental crimes resulted in the company’s being sentenced to pay $1.3 million in fines to the federal government and make $2.2 million in restitution to the City of Wilmington.

The cease and desist order can be found on DNREC’s website at http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/SecOrders_Enforcement.aspx.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 57

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Delaware Toxics Release Inventory Report for 2015 shows overall progress in lowering state’s waste releases

Decrease in air toxicity is recorded, but releases are higher for water and land

DOVER – The annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data report from Delaware’s industrial facilities as compiled by DNREC’s Emergency Prevention and Response Section show continued progress by the state in reducing toxic releases into the environment, with an overall decrease in toxic waste of 14 percent from 2015 statistics when compared to 2014 figures. The latest report also indicates that there’s still work to be done, however: While TRI data recorded a decrease in onsite releases to air, onsite releases to both water and land increased – all as compared to the state’s TRI figures for 2014, the most recent year for DNREC’s compiling the data.

Total onsite releases were up 23 percent in Delaware for 2015 – with releases to air down 12 percent, releases to water up 32 percent, and releases to land up 62 percent. Onsite releases represent only a very small portion of total TRI reported waste. For 2015, about 1 percent of the total-reported TRI waste was released onsite, while 2.6 percent was transferred off-site for treatment or disposal, and 96.3 percent was managed onsite through treatment, energy recovery, and recycling operations by the facilities generating the waste. Total waste for 2015 was down 14 percent compared with 2014.

Although overall onsite releases are up for 2015 TRI reporting, Delaware has seen a 61 percent reduction in toxic releases over the last 18 years – since 1998, when TRI reporting requirements were expanded to include a larger list of reporting facilities. The reporting of nitrate compounds released to water again had a major impact on the overall onsite releases, accounting for 81 percent (3.7 million pounds) of the total onsite releases. Releases for nitrate compounds were up by 837,000 pounds compared to 2014.

Increases in production and closure of facilities also had an impact on TRI reporting for 2015 – a year when the state’s Production Index (PI) for all Delaware facilities was 1.07, which signified a seven percent increase in production over 2014. Facilities report a Production Index (PI) for each chemical used in production, along with TRI release and waste management data. Because the PI is the amount of production or activity directly associated with demand for the chemical being reported, it provides one way to estimate the impact of the economy on TRI data. PI is reported as a number, representing the ratio of how production increased or decreased compared to the previous year. A facility reporting an increase of 10 percent would report its PI as 1.10, while a facility reporting a decrease of 10 percent would production as 90 percent of the previous year, a PI of 0.90. A facility having the same production level as the previous year would report the PI as 1.0. For 2015, of 184 reports by Delaware facilities with PIs, 68 reported increases in production and 104 reported decreases. The remaining 12 PI reports had a 2015 production level equal to the previous year. All told, the average PI reported was 1.068 – again, when rounded off, a seven percent increase compared to 2014’s production level.

The major changes impacting the increases and decreases for the year are covered below in the Delaware TRI summary and in greater detail throughout the report.

Releases to air, land and water in Delaware are permitted by DNREC under rigorous environmental standards at both the national and state level. Permits granted by the department allow for limited discharge of pollutants within these standards that have been established both for minimizing impacts to the environment and risks to public health.

Please refer to the following factsheet for background on TRI and a summary of the 2015 TRI data. (The full TRI 2015 report and data are available at:
http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/SERC/Pages/Reports.aspx.)

FACTSHEET
Delaware Toxics Release Inventory
2015 Data and Report

What is TRI?
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available data set containing information reported annually since 1987 for toxic chemicals manufactured, processed, or otherwise used by certain facilities in Delaware and throughout the United States. TRI was established in 1986 under Title III, Section 313, of the Federal Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA 313) to provide information to the public about the presence and release of toxic chemicals in their communities. Title III is also known as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

Who must report?
Facilities that are required to the government under TRI must meet the following criteria:
1) The facility must be covered under specific listed North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes, or be a federal facility. Primarily, these NAICS codes include manufacturing facilities, oil and coal fired electric facilities, and bulk petroleum terminals.
2) The facility must have 10 or more full time employees.
3) The facility must manufacture or process over 25,000 pounds or otherwise use over 10,000 pounds of a TRI chemical. The list of reportable TRI chemicals includes of 595 individual chemicals and 31 chemical categories. Certain chemicals, such as persistent bio-accumulative toxins (PBTs), have lower reporting thresholds.

What is reported?
Facilities submit reports to Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the waste management activities for the covered TRI chemicals. These activities include:
1) Direct releases onsite to the environment. These releases are to air, water, and land.
2) Waste managed onsite, which includes recycling, treatment, and energy recovery.
3) Waste managed offsite, which includes recycling, treatment, energy recovery, or disposal.
Data from Delaware facilities is compiled by DNREC and the results are summarized in an annual report. A national analysis of the TRI data is provided by EPA’s annual report. It is noteworthy that TRI only requires reporting of releases and waste management activities, but not amounts used. The control of those releases is achieved separately through a variety of DNREC and EPA permits, laws and regulations.

Delaware 2015 TRI Results Summary
For 2015, 59 facilities submitted reports for 90 different chemicals. Approximately 4.6 million pounds were reported as being released onsite, an increase of 849,000 pounds or 23 percent compared to 2014. Of this amount, approximately 29,000 pounds were released to land, while 712,000 pounds were released to air, and approximately 3.9 million pounds were released to water.

Onsite Releases
To Land: Onsite releases to land increased by 11,000 pounds (62 percent) compared to 2014.

  • This increase was primarily attributable to the Delaware Army National Guard training site range in New Castle, with its first-time TRI reporting of 16,000 pounds of lead released to land – which was 55 percent of the state’s total releases to land. (This site did not report previously because of troop deployments; the training site range has not been used extensively in recent years.)
  • Lead was also the largest reported release to land, with 99.8 percent of the lead releases to land reported by the National Guard training range. A National Guard spokesman told DNREC that “The Delaware Army National Guard Rifle Range follows a lead management plan, and is in the process of changing to lead-free” ammunition, noting “should the site ever be converted for another use in the future, the range will be remediated in accordance with all applicable local, state and federal laws.”

To Air: Onsite releases to air were down approximately 93,000 pounds (12 percent) compared to 2014.
o Reductions in releases to air were reported by several companies, with the largest decrease being reported by Chemours Edge Moor of carbonyl sulfide, down 89,000 pounds compared to 2014. This reduction was primarily due to this facility’s ceasing production in September, 2015.

  • Though sulfuric acid was reported as the largest release to air at 226,000 pounds, with most of it being released by PBF Energy’s Delaware City refinery, the total figure represented a 73,000-pound reduction by the refinery compared to its 2014 sulfuric acid emissions to air.

To Water: Total onsite releases to water increased by approximately 931,000 pounds (32 percent) compared to 2014.

  • The increase in releases to water was primarily due to increases of nitrate compound releases reported by the Delaware City refinery, up 622,000 pounds compared to 2014. NOx was scrubbed out of the refinery’s air emissions and diverted to water.
  • Nitrate compounds were also reported as the largest release to water at 3.7 million pounds, with 3.4 million pounds (90 percent) released by the Delaware City Refinery and 318,000 (8 percent) released by Perdue Farms Georgetown.

Offsite Transfers
• Waste transferred offsite decreased by 1.3 million pounds (10 percent) compared to 2014. Reductions in offsite recycling, offsite disposal, offsite treatment, and offsite energy recovery offset increases in releases to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).
• Largest Change: The largest reduction reported was for offsite disposal of manganese compounds by Chemours Edge Moor, due again to this facility’s ceasing operations in September of 2015 – down 776,000 pounds compared to 2014.
• Largest Chemical Reported: Lead compounds were the largest reported chemical amount transferred for offsite recycling at 4.3 million pounds, with 2.55 million pounds reported by the Johnson Controls Battery Plant and 1.76 million pounds reported by the Johnson Controls Distribution plant, both facilities located in Middletown.

Onsite Management
• Waste managed onsite decreased by 73.6 million pounds (15 percent) compared to 2014. Decreases in onsite treatment and onsite recycling were partially offset by a small increase in onsite energy recovery.
• Largest Changes: Multiple facilities reported increases and decreases of over a million pounds for onsite management compared to 2014. The largest reduction reported was for onsite treatment of hydrogen sulfide by PBF Energy’s Delaware City refinery, with a reduction of 72.7 million pounds compared to 2014. The largest increase was for the onsite treatment of hydrochloric acid by Chemours Edge Moor, up approximately 1.3 million pounds compared to 2014.
• Largest Chemical Reported: Hydrogen sulfide was also the largest reported chemical amount managed onsite, with 360.9 million pounds being treated onsite, with the majority of that amount being reported by the Delaware City refinery.

Media contact: Debra Nielsen, DNREC Emergency Prevention and Response Section, 302-739-9405; or Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 31

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