Thanks to one of our readers for sending the following article...Myrl
Those pieces - during much of the plant's history - were ****pped by
train to Michigan and Kentucky, where they were combined with other
substances to make products such as bathtub caulk, breast implants and
aerospace lubricant.
January 6, 2005
New owner of old smelter wraps up 17-year cleanup
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/01/06/e1.bz.globe.0106.html
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard
The last chapter in the story of silicon metal manufacturing in
Springfield - and the environmental mess it created - will play out
this month as the new owner of an old smelter completes a 17-year
cleanup.
An official end to the cleanup is necessary to permit opening of a
building contractor's storage and operations "village" on the 13-acre
site.
"It'll be totally clean," said John Leighton, who is redeveloping the
site for New York-based Springfield-Aster LLC. "We'll have a `no
further action letter' very soon from the state."
Through January, the Department of Environmental Quality is seeking
public comment on the final cleanup agreement, which the public can
read at the agency's Eugene office.
The silicon smelter operated for nearly a half-century at 1801 Aster
St., applying heat to a mixture of quartz and coal to produce ****ny,
silvery metal rocklike pieces.
Those pieces - during much of the plant's history - were ****pped by
train to Michigan and Kentucky, where they were combined with other
substances to make products such as bathtub caulk, breast implants and
aerospace lubricant.
Cleanup is nearly complete on the old Globe Metallurgical smelter.
"It'll be totally clean," said John Leighton, who is redeveloping the
site for New York-based Springfield-Aster LLC.
But over the years, the factory also spilled at least eight kinds of
hazardous chemical that soaked through dirt and contaminated the
groundwater.
When the DEQ discovered the problem in 1988, one chemical,
dichloroethene, exceeded federal drinking water standards.
By 1989, Dow Corning was cleaning the place up. The company scooped out
a contaminated ditch running along the side of the property, exhumed a
leaky drum and pulled big tanks from the ground.
It ****pped 20 55-gallon drums full of toxic soil to a hazardous waste
disposal company in Illinois.
Dow Corning eventually drilled a half-dozen groundwater monitoring
wells, which allowed it to establish that the contaminant was in a
shallow aquifer and the plume was not drifting beyond the property
lines.
Initially, the DEQ was concerned about the elevated levels of
dichloroethene. It's classified as a possible human carcinogen;
breathing heavy concentrations can damage the liver, kidneys and the
central nervous system, according to the federal Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry.
The DEQ required the company to continue semi-annual monitoring of the
levels of chemicals in the groundwater through 1995.
After that, Dow sold the plant to Globe Metallurgical, which eventually
filed for bankruptcy, making way for Springfield-Aster LLC to take
possession. The smelter was closed in 2000; the cleanup languished for
several years.
Last year, the new owners decided to rezone the property to light
industrial and turn it into Contractor's Village, where builders could
store and maintain their equipment.
They hired Schnitzer Steel to demolish and haul away 1,000 tons of
scrap from the prominent 10-story smelter building.
This week, the demolition crew has peeled away sections of the
corrugated skin and exposed the massive steel beams. By the end of
January, all will be gone - including the leftover piles of gray-white
quartz.
But the development group needs a clean bill of environmental health
from the state.
Late last year, DEQ cleanup project manager Nancy Gramlich required the
company to take more water samples to show that contamination hadn't
grown in area or concentration.
She evaluated the levels against today's health standards and found
that toxicologists had revised the numbers; they found dichloroethene
was not as poisonous as they once thought. The site was well within the
standards.
"There's residual contamination still, but it's below levels of
concern. What remains poses no risk for what they plan to use the
property for," she said. "They're not going to drink the (ground)
water."
Residents within a half-mile of the plant get their water from the
city's system, Gramlich said.
And because contaminants eva****ate easily when the water is drawn up
from the aquifer into the air, they aren't readily absorbed by crops or
plants, so irrigation would pose no health hazard, her re****t
concluded.
Gramlich said she'd review all public comments, but she sees no
obstacles to granting the OK to redevelop the land.
"This site was pretty much done several years ago. They're just going
through the formality now," she said.
TO COMMENT
The Department of Environmental Quality is seeking public comment on
whether pollution cleanup at the old Dow Corning/Globe Metallurgical
factory in Springfield is sufficient.
Review cleanup do***ents at the DEQ's Eugene office, 1102 Lincoln St.,
Suite 210. First, make an appointment by calling 686-7848.
Submit comments by e-mail at gramlich.nancy@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
or fax at
(503) 373-7944.
The deadline is Feb. 1.
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