Projects

VESTRA staff was responsible for conducting a preliminary site investigation, emergency removal actions, Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS), Risk Assessment, Remedial Design Plan, construction inspection, and long-term monitoring for this state lead Superfund site.  Site activities were conducted in accordance with the National Contingency Plan, and the client was successful in cost recovery actions against previous property owners.

 

The Diamond Match Company operated a large milling and match manufacturing facility in southwest Chico, California.  Operations of the Diamond Match Company began in 1906 and continued until Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) purchased the site in 1986.  LP operated the facility until it closed in 1989.  In late 1989, LP began a preliminary investigation to determine whether the site was a source of volatile organic compounds detected in south Chico groundwater.  Although the results from the preliminary investigation demonstrated that the facility was not a source of volatile organic compounds in the underlying groundwater; arsenic, lead, and pentachlorophenol-contaminated soils were identified.  In July 1991, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) issued an Imminent and Substantial Endangerment Determination and Order for the site.  This Order made the facility a California Superfund Site.

In response to the Order, VESTRA staff was responsible for implementing emergency removal actions at eight locations, completing a RI/FS, Risk Assessment, and implementing remedial alternatives to address pentachlorophenol-contaminated groundwater and approximately 40,000 cubic yards of arsenic-contaminated railroad ballast. The emergency removal actions were completed in 1992 and involved excavating and transporting more than 10,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil to a Class I landfill facility. Staff members argued successfully that the contaminated soil was exempt from RCRA, thereby allowing disposal of the soil as a California Hazardous Waste and not as an RCRA Hazardous Waste.  This determination resulted in considerable savings to LP.  Based on the results of the Risk Assessment and Feasibility Study, a groundwater extraction and treatment system was installed to address pentachlorophenol-contaminated groundwater, and the 40,000 cubic yards of arsenic-contaminated ballast was consolidated into an onsite cell.  With DTSC approval, the groundwater extraction system was shut off in 2003. Groundwater monitoring and routine maintenance of the arsenic consolidation cell is ongoing.  Estimated costs for the investigation and implementing the remedial alternatives exceed $20 million.  

 

VESTRA staff also provided expert witness testimony and legal support on behalf of LP during CERCLA cost recovery litigation.  Following a lengthy trial in Federal District Court, a favorable settlement was negotiated.