Action sets schedule for ongoing work to remove and prevent releases of hazardous waste

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Shell Guam Inc. to implement corrective actions and cleanup releases of hazardous waste at its facility located at Chalan Tenjo Vista, Piti, Guam. The order also directs the company to continue its work and activities necessary to clean up any spills and prevent any releases of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents to soil or groundwater.

“For many years now, Shell has voluntarily conducted cleanup of their facility with regulatory oversight from both the U.S. EPA and Guam EPA,” noted Jeff Scott, Director of the U.S. EPA’s Southwest Region Waste Management Division. “Currently, we are satisfied with Shell’s response activities at the site, but with the impending sale of the facility, it is time to formalize cleanup responsibilities to ensure that site work continues into the future.”

Monitoring stations have found that the groundwater underlying the facility is contaminated with petroleum, benzene, toluene, and other petroleum constituents and additives. While there are no drinking water supply wells in the nearby vicinity, groundwater generally flows to the ocean west of the site and can potentially impact the Tenjo River and Big Guatali River. Also, nearby wetlands and the Big Guatali River receive surface water discharges from the facility.

Specifically, the order requires Shell to:

• submit a report summarizing the current conditions and historic operations of previous investigations and corrective actions, information for all known hazardous waste and hazardous constituents releases to the environment, and the physical setting and maps of the facility,
• develop and implement a plan for investigation of the facility’s solid waste areas and other areas of concern to identify the nature and extent of any releases of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents,
• submit a corrective measures study,
• notify and respond to any identified immediate or potential new releases of hazardous wastes or hazardous constituents, and implement any response actions.

For more information on hazardous waste please visit: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/index.htm

Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, higuchi.dean@epa.gov

References:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/fa48fe7cb4e5dc64852575f2006cdf03?OpenDocument

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