This is part two of an article that appeared in the Saturday, March 13, edition about industrial waste contamination of the former Eagle Picher Carefree Battery manufacturing plant north of Socorro.

One public safety question that has been raised about the Eagle Picher site, a 157-acre Superfund site located 2 miles north of Socorro, is why the city allowed a paintball park and motocross park to operate on or near an area where there was a question of environmental contamination.

"The TCE (trichloroethylene) in the groundwater has been an ongoing concern," said City Clerk Pat Salome. "But the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) actually came out and did a real-time grid study of the soil, and we have a letter saying that there wasn't a health risk associated with the soil at the time."

Residents in the area complained, in early 2005, about noise from the new motocross park and raised objections at city council meetings to a race event scheduled for April 16, 2005. Among the issues they raised was the possibility of soil contamination posing a hazard to motocross riders.

A letter faxed to the city from the EPA, Superfund Division, on April 11, 2005, said the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry "was asked to evaluate the human health risk of the recent XFR (X-ray florescence) data concerning the Eagle Picher Carefree Battery site."

The letter and attached report concluded that soil contamination levels "were not of sufficient levels to be of an immediate health threat or concern for this sponsored event or even over the course of the next year."

It wasn't until 2006, when flooding altered the site profile, that the EPA recommended suspending recreational activities at the site. Access to the area is not restricted, and people still ride ATVs across the site, but no commercial recreational activities take place there now. The Public Health Assessment published by the toxic substances and disease agency, in 2009, recommended expanding the locations of surface soil sampling to include the former paintball facility.

The Remedial Investigation-Feasibility Study scheduled to begin in mid-April is expected to take 18 months to complete.

"It's a lengthy process, but the site will receive the attention it deserves," said Michael Torres, remedial project manager for the Environmental Protection Agency. "It has to be undertaken in such a way that we have a complete conceptual understanding of the site and that we do things right."

Torres is in charge of the study, which starts with a sampling and analysis plan that outlines collection procedures and sampling methods. Torres has designated EA Engineering of Dallas as the contractor for the work. Samples will be taken of groundwater, surface soils, subsurface soils and buildings. The contractors will wear HazMat suits.

"I have to require that they wear protective clothing, because they're going to be digging and lifting soils," Torres said.

City employees who make regular visits to the Eagle Picher Well presumably would not need HazMat suits unless they were digging.

Torres estimates that five "mobilizations" will be needed to complete the data acquisition phase. By January or February 2011, they should have a better understanding of what are the true chemicals of concern and what alternatives can be considered for remediation.

Torres is working on a similar groundwater plume site in Roswell, which is in the Remedial Design Phase. Some of the remedies being employed there may be applicable to the Eagle Picher site.

"In Roswell, we're looking at excavating source soils so the contamination doesn't migrate further down the water table," Torres said. "Something else we can do is drill wells to pull out contaminated water, which is then chemically treated, filtered and reinjected into the ground. Then you flush it back up again and go through the same process until you reach a certain point."

TCE belongs to a class of industrial chemicals referred to as DNAPLs — dense non-aqueous phase liquids — that are denser than water and don't dissolve or mix easily in water. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program have experimented with dissolving DNAPLs by injecting Fenton's reagent, a solution of hydrogen peroxide and ferrous iron salts, into a chlorinated solvent plume in King's Bay, Ga. In that instance, the estimated time and cost of remediation was significantly less than the pump-and-treat method.

Another technology Torres could explore is called bio-remediation, where plants, fungal organisms or microbes are used to extract, concentrate or degrade contaminants.

"Treatment technologies are very exciting, and we're always using innovative technologies," said Torres. "But we use presumptive remedies — tried and true methods."

If the public is interested, Torres said he could schedule open house meetings, and might also be able to schedule a talk with professors and graduate students at New Mexico Tech.

"There will definitely be formal opportunity for public questions and comment right before the Record of Decision is formalized," Torres said. "We will publicise and hold a meeting where the public will be invited to be part of the process."

That public meeting will likely take place in October or November of 2011.

Contact Suzanne Barteau