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TRUE TEMPER SPORTS
SITE/
FORMER GENEVA CITY DUMP
SITE LOCATION
Geneva, Ohio; in northern Ohio, three miles south of
Lake Erie and mid-way between Cleveland and Erie, Pa.
SITE DESCRIPTION (as of dates of TOSC assistance)
From 1950 to 1980, True Temper operated an electroplating
facility in Geneva. The facility utilized a complex system of underground
piping for various processes. Rinse water from the plating processes was
pumped underground from the facility to a rinse water settling pond. Overflow
from the rinse water settling pond flowed via an underground pipe to a
rectangular concrete basin that emptied into the True Temper Ditch. From
there, the water flowed north and then west through a series of ditches
and culverts before discharging to Cowles Creek Based upon observations
made by USEPA, it appears that this drainage pathway remains intact. The
facility had a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permit for the effluent from March 3, 1975, until April 3, 1981.
The sludge lagoons were self-contained with no influent
or effluent piping. Sludge wastes were trucked from the True Temper pretreatment
plant to the appropriate lagoon. Two "old" chromium/nickel lagoons
and the copper/cyanide lagoon were present. Two "new" chromium/nickel
lagoons were constructed in the mid-1970s, and apparently had clay liners
approximately 2 feet thick. Also present was a zinc/phosphate lagoon.
After closure of the plant in 1980, some of the lagoon
waters and sludges were pumped out and removed.. The lagoons were reportedly
filled with about 10 feet of topsoil from the property. Adjacent to the
copper/cyanide lagoon was a structure referred to as the Quonset Hut.
This hut was demolished in 1994 by a contractor and, due to the exposure
of lead contaminated soils, the area became the subject of a time-critical
removal action.
A second area, the Geneva City Dump operated as a municipal
and industrial waste landfill from 1940 to 1969. A CERCLA 103(c) Notification
submitted by the Geneva Rubber Company in 1981 reported that drummed waste
solvents (benzene and toluene) and rubber adhesives were disposed of at
the dump between 1960 and 1969. Additionally, employees of the Geneva
WWTP have reported that the former operator of the dump used to burn all
liquid wastes on site. In 1983, a representative of a community action
group reported that drums in the dump were leaking, and that several drums
had exploded.
The WWTP (Area #3) has been in operation since 1903,
with additions to the plant contracted in 1938, 1964, and 1989-1990. Approximately
90% of the influent to the WWTP is residential, with the remaining 10%
being industrial.
During a 1993 Expanded Site Inspection conducted on the
Geneva City Dump site found Aroclor 1254 at 370 ppm in the zinc/phosphate
lagoon on property that was actually part of Area #1 and at 16 ppm in
the northwest corner of the Geneva City Dump (Area #2). Elevated levels
of heavy metals were also detected in most of the soil samples collected
during these investigations. The most notable of these results are the
maximum concentrations of chromium (7,920 mg/kg), copper (68,900 mg/kg),
lead (2,260 mg/kg), zinc (46,100 mg/kg), and cyanide (798 mg/kg).
For sediment samples, high levels of 1, 1, 1-trichloroethane
(2,700 ug/kg), toluene (16,000 ug/kg), ethylbenzene (490,000 ug/kg), and
xylenes (26,000 ug/kg) were detected in OEPA sample ERF-32, collected
from a concrete structure located adjacent to the rinse water settling
pond. This sample also contained elevated concentrations of PAHS, including
32,000 mg/kg of phenanthrene, 26,000 ug/kg of fluoranthene, 42,000 ug/kg
of pyrene, and 8,400 ug/kg of benzo(a)pyrene. Samples also contained elevated
concentrations of PAHs. Numerous pesticides were detected at low concentrations
in sediment samples collected from across the site. Aroclor 1254 was detected
at 29 mg/kg in OEPA sample SED-58, collected from the east ditch adjacent
to the former waste oil disposal area. The maximum concentrations of metals
detected in sediments were chromium (7,920 mg/kg), copper (68,900 ug/kg),
lead (2,260 mg/kg), zinc (46,100 mg/kg), and cyanide (798 mg/kg).
During May and June 1995, U.S. EPA conducted a field
investigation at the Sites to obtain data to support the preparation of
the EE/CA report. Samples were taken of soil, sediment, and groundwater.
High levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), up to 2,600 parts per
million (ppm), have been identified in an area referred to as the former
waste oil disposal area and the zinc/phosphate sludge lagoon to the north
of North Avenue. The highest concentrations of chromium and nickel were
detected in samples collected in the locations of the former chromium/nickel
sludge lagoon, and the highest zinc concentrations were detected in samples
collected from the former zinc/phosphate sludge lagoon. High levels of
lead, up to 5,300 ppm, were detected in surface soil samples collected
along the access road entering the True Temper Site.
ORGANIZATION REQUESTING TOSC ASSISTANCE
Geneva area Citizens Advisory Committee (CAG)
BEGINNING DATE OF TOSC ASSISTANCE
January 1997
ENDING DATE OF TOSC ASSISTANCE
April 1998
INFORMATION CONTACT
Kirk Riley
TOSC Program Manager
Tel: (517) 355-7493
Fax: (517) 432-1550
E-mail: rileyki@egr.msu.edu
SUMMARY OF TOSC ASSISTANCE
In 1997, the MSU TOSC Program met with members of the
Geneva Citizens Advisory Group (CAG) to assess the need for TOSC services.
The City of Geneva also expressed strong interest in TOSC services, while
not being a direct participant in TOSC activities. Agreement was subsequently
reached to provide guidance on the characterization of the settling ponds
on the site and the old Geneva city dump. During the period of assistance,
TOSC reviewed the documents produced by U.S. EPA on the site and held
workshops jointly with members of the Geneva CAG on the site-cleanup process.
TOSC also produced a fact
sheet on the contamination and a poster, which was displayed in City
offices and schools. Click here
to view the pages that made up the poster.
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