Vermont Business Magazine The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will conduct a comprehensive review of completed cleanup work at a National Priority List (NPL) Superfund site in Springfield, Vermont this year. The site will undergo a legally required Five-Year Review to ensure that previous remediation efforts at the site continue to protect public health and the environment.
“Throughout the process of designing and constructing a cleanup at a hazardous waste site, EPA's primary goal is to make sure the remedy will be protective of public health and the environment, especially for communities that have been overburdened by pollution,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “It is important for EPA to regularly check on this site to ensure the remedy is working properly and Vermont communities continue to be protected.”
The Superfund Site where EPA will conduct the Five-Year Review in 2023 is listed below with a web link that provides detailed information on site status as well as past assessment and cleanup activity. Once the Five-Year Review is complete, its findings will be posted to the website in a final report.
Five-Year Review of Superfund site in Vermont to be completed in 2023:
Old Springfield Landfill, Springfield
The 10-acre Old Springfield Landfill, previously referred to as the Will Dean Dump, was operated by the Town of Springfield between 1947 and 1968. Hazardous industrial waste from local industries was co-disposed with municipal trash into discrete trenches and mixed with municipal solid waste. Most hazardous material was reportedly disposed in bulk liquid and semi-liquid form. The site was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 1983.
Following the closure of the landfill, it was sold and developed for use as a mobile home park, known as Springfield Mobile Home Estates. In 1984, shortly after the opening of the Springfield Mobile Home Estates, a nearby resident's complaint of foul-smelling water prompted an investigation by the Vermont Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Conservation. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were found in an area spring and in a residential well located near the mobile home park. In response, the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) installed a water line extending to nearby homes. EPA then performed a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) to determine the extent and risk of contamination and potential cleanup actions.
Construction of the site’s remedy has been completed. Operations and maintenance activities and groundwater and leachate treatment are ongoing.
What Has Been Done to Clean Up the Site?
The Site consists of two Operable Units (OUs), with cleanup related activities performed on both.
The “Management of Migration Remedy” at OU 1 includes two groundwater extraction wells (EW-1 and EW-2) and a leachate collection system (LSE-3/4) at the landfill that discharge to the Pre-Treatment Facility (PTF), along groundwater collection at the Western Seep. Both the PTF and the Western Seep discharge to the Town of Springfield’s public-owned treatment works (POTW).
At OU 2, the “Source Control Remedy” includes the source control well (SC-1; which also discharges to the PTF), treatment of water at the PTF by air stripping, 10 passive gas vents (GV-1 through GV-10), three subsurface “french” drains (FD-1 through FD-3) to intercept off-Site groundwater before it enters the landfill, surface water diversions around the landfill, and the engineered landfill cap.
What Is the Current Site Status?
Remedial actions (RAs) were completed in 1994 and the Site is considered operational and functional (O&F). Pursuant to two consent decrees (CD) for the Site, the PRPs were required to conduct operation and maintenance (O&M) for the Site and the Town of Springfield is responsible for performing this activity.
Activity and Use Limitations
At this site, activity and use limitations that EPA calls institutional controls are in place. Institutional controls play an important role in site remedies because they reduce exposure to contamination by limiting land or resource use. They also guide human behavior. For instance, zoning restrictions prevent land uses – such as residential uses – that are not consistent with the level of cleanup.
Institutional controls are required for this site.
This site requires ICs because a decision document, such as a Record of Decision, has documented some level of contamination and/or remedy component at the site that would restrict use of the site. These ICs are required to help ensure the site is used in an appropriate way and that activities at the site do not damage the cleanup components. These ICs will remain in place for as long as the contamination and/or cleanup components stay on site. The site contacts should be consulted if there are questions on the ICs for this site.
The following IC Instruments provide media-specific use restrictions that have been implemented by EPA for protecting human health, the environment and remedial engineering on this site. Instruments are documents used by EPA or other organizations to implement the use restrictions at a site. To know about other media-specific use restrictions that are planned but not implemented at this site, please contact the Regional Office using the Site Contact listed above.
Click here for IC Instruments implemented for this site.
To contact EPA regarding Institutional Controls and/or activity and use limitations, please complete this form.
ICs are generally defined as administrative and legal tools that do not involve construction or physically changing the site. Common examples of ICs include site use and excavation restrictions put in place through State and local authorities like zoning, permits and easements. ICs are normally used when waste is left onsite and when there is a limit to the activities that can safely take place at the site (i.e., the site cannot support unlimited use and unrestricted exposure) and/or when cleanup components of the remedy remains onsite (e.g., landfill caps, pumping equipment or pipelines). Effective ICs help ensure that these sites can be returned to safe and beneficial use.
Disclaimer: This information is being provided by EPA as an informational tool to further assist the public in determining the types of restrictions that may be in place at National Priorities List sites being addressed by EPA under the Superfund program. In addition to the areas addressed by the institutional controls identified on this web site there may be other areas on the property that require restrictions on use of the property that are not captured in this EPA database. States and other entities may have implemented laws or restrictions applicable to this site. The information provided herein does not replace a title search or meet "All Appropriate Inquiry" requirements. U.S. EPA encourages users to review the Site files to obtain information regarding remedy components, containment systems and the land use for which cleanup standards were selected for these sites. More information and links can be found in the Institutional Control instrument collection of document, above, and the EPA regional offices may also be contacted.
Sampling and Monitoring
The Town of Springfield is conducting long-term monitoring and maintenance activities associated with the O&M Plan, the Long-term Monitoring Plan (LTMP), and Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP). The primary activities associated with O&M and long-term monitoring include: routine inspection and maintenance of the landfill cover system, extraction wells, French drains, and water treatment system; periodic sampling of groundwater, treatment plant influent and effluent, ambient air within the treatment facility, and air discharges from carbon canisters; and reporting.
OLD SPRINGFIELD LANDFILL
SPRINGFIELD, VT
Cleanup Progress
Site Milestones
| Milestone | Date(s) |
|---|---|
| Initial Assessment Completed | 09/01/1981 |
| Proposed to the National Priorities List | 12/30/1982 |
| Finalized on the National Priorities List | 09/08/1983 |
| Remedial Investigation Started | 03/12/1984 |
| Remedy Selected | 09/22/1988 |
| Final Remedy Selected | 09/28/1990 |
| Remedial Action Started | 09/17/1992 |
| Final Remedial Action Started | 05/27/1993 |
| Construction Completed | 09/22/1994 |
| Deleted from National Priorities List | Not Yet Achieved |
| Most Recent Five-Year Review | 07/31/2018 |
| Achieved Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Reuse | 11/24/2008 |
Cleanup Schedule by Operable Unit
During cleanup, a site can be divided into a number of distinct areas depending on its complexity. These areas, called operable units (OUs), may address geographic areas, specific problems, or areas where a specific action is required. Examples of typical operable units include construction of a groundwater pump and treatment system or construction of a cap over a landfill.
Select an operable unit. After making a selection, press go to filter the table by operable unit.
All OUs OU 00 - SITEWIDE OU 01 - MANAGEMENT OF MIGRATION OU 02 - SOURCE CONTROL
Search:
| Milestone | Start Date | Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| OU 00 - SITEWIDE | ||
| Administrative Order of Consent (EPA Performed) | 04/04/1984 | |
| Administrative Order of Consent (EPA Performed) | 03/10/1989 | |
| Administrative Order of Consent (EPA Performed) | 01/14/1993 | |
| Consent Decree (EPA Performed) | 05/01/1990 | |
| Consent Decree (EPA Performed) | 06/10/1992 | |
| Unilateral Administrative Order (EPA Performed) | 01/07/1991 | |
| Unilateral Administrative Order (EPA Performed) | 07/30/1992 | |
| Removal (PRP Performed, EPA Oversight) | 06/30/1984 | 11/01/1984 |
| Removal (EPA Performed) | 06/15/1987 | 07/20/1987 |
| Five-Year Review (EPA Performed) | 09/29/1998 | |
| Five-Year Review (EPA Performed) | 09/26/2003 | |
| Five-Year Review (EPA Performed) | 09/26/2008 | |
| Five-Year Review (EPA Performed) | 08/01/2013 | |
| Five-Year Review (EPA Performed) | 07/31/2018 | |
| Five-Year Review (EPA Performed) | Estimated Jul - Sep 2023 | |
| OU 01 - MANAGEMENT OF MIGRATION | ||
| Combined Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (EPA Performed) | 03/12/1984 | 09/22/1988 |
| Record of Decision (EPA Performed) | 09/22/1988 | |
| Remedial Design (PRP Performed, EPA Oversight) | 09/29/1989 | 09/17/1992 |
| Remedial Action (PRP Performed, EPA Oversight) | 09/17/1992 | 09/30/1993 |
| Long-Term Response Action (PRP Performed, EPA Oversight) | 09/30/1993 | |
| OU 02 - SOURCE CONTROL | ||
| Combined Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (PRP Performed, EPA Oversight) | 03/10/1989 | 09/28/1990 |
| Record of Decision (EPA Performed) | 09/28/1990 | |
| Remedial Design (PRP Performed, EPA Oversight) | 12/13/1991 | 05/27/1993 |
| Remedial Action (PRP Performed, EPA Oversight) | 05/27/1993 | 10/07/1994 |
| Long-Term Response Action (PRP Performed, EPA Oversight) | 10/07/1994 | |
NOTE: Dates and estimated dates will not display for all milestones. Estimated dates only display for milestones planned within the next three fiscal years. Estimated dates and start dates will not display for the following enforcement milestones: Administrative Order of Consent, Consent Decree and Unilateral Administrative Order. Start dates will not display for the following document milestones: Five-Year Review, Record of Decision, Record of Decision Amendment, Explanation of Significant Differences and Partial NPL Deletion.
More information:
The Superfund program, a federal program established by Congress in 1980, investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled, or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country and EPA endeavors to facilitate activities to return them to productive use. In total, there are 123 Superfund sites across New England.
Superfund and other cleanup sites in New England
BOSTON (Jan. 13, 2023) – The US Environmental Protection Agency
