EPA continues clean-up at Diaz site

EPA continues clean-up at Diaz site

So far, close to $9 million has been spent in “cleaning up the sins of the past” Mike Basile, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) community involvement coordinator said of the continuing efforts to clean up the Diaz plant site in Holley.

The EPA responded to, and undertook actions at the Diaz Chemical plant in June 2003. The clean-up started with daily inspections of drums, tanks, piping and maintenance of the facility. EPA expanded its operations in August 2003 to include removal of all hazardous substances within the pipes and from the facility.

A release of chemicals into the air in January 2002 spread chemicals across the village and led to 10 families having to leave their homes. Basile said that the families were relocated after having been displaced for more than two years. “The homes are being maintained by the EPA. We haven’t determined whether the homes are habitable but we have purchased them from the owners because of the inconvenience the families suffered,” he said. Typically the EPA, when working at a Super Fund site, will identify risks before buying out residents. “In this case we weren’t able to quantify the risks but because of the inconvenience, the homes were purchased from the owners.”

So far the agency has removed more than 100,000 gallons of chemicals, 9,000 drums of chemicals and more than 50,000 linear feet of pipe (nearly 10 miles).

“We’re going to be completing demolition of 60 percent of the buildings on the site,” Basile said. “Forty percent of the structures were found to be clean and structurally sound, so they will remain.”

Air monitoring activities will be on going during all of the clean up activities to ensure protection of on-site workers and for protection of the community. “Transportation and removal of debris will have little impact on the residents,” Basile said.

In July 2004, the Diaz site was formally placed on the EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List. A Superfund site is any land in the United States that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a candidate for cleanup because it poses a risk to human health and/or the environment. Diaz Chemical declared bankruptcy but the EPA is still hoping to obtain reimbursement from the company to help pay for the clean up.