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The toluene clean-up at the former BASF Corp. site, now occupied by Flint Ink, on the west side of Warsaw, is likely to take a few more months.
A remediation work plan is available at the Warsaw Community Public Library. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is seeking public comments on the plan through Feb. 15.
On Dec. 12, 1995, 2,170 gallons of toluene were released through a 3/4-inch valve on the east side of the BASF plant. This action was listed as an accident.
Toluene (methylbenzene) is a a light mobile liquid aromatic hydrocarbon (C6H6CH3) that resembles benzene but is less volatile, less flammable and less toxic. Originally obtained by distilling balsam of tolu, it is produced commercially from light oils and from coke-oven gas and coal tar and from petroleum. It is used chiefly as a solvent, as raw material for trinitro trinitrotoluene, dyes, pharmaceuticals, TNT and other organic compounds and as a blending agent for gasoline.
Toluene is a colorless liquid with a sweet, pungent benzene-like odor. An irritant to eyes and nose, toluene causes fatigue, dizziness, headaches, hallucinations or distorted perceptions, nervousness, insomnia and skin tingling. It can cause bone marrow changes and liver and kidney damage. It is considered a mutagen (an agent that tends to increase the occurrence or extent of mutation) and experimental teratogen (tending to cause a monstrosity).
By March 1996 a continuous product skimming system recovered 445 gallons of the chemical. Up to 1,600 gallons of dissolved or absorbed toluene remained in the subsurface and groundwater around the plant. The toluene plume covered a 1,500-square-foot area.
Located at 3025 Old Road 30W, the site was sold to Flint Ink in May 1996. R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. is to the east. A Conrail railroad line is south, with the CCAC athletic fields to the west. To the north are agricultural lands, Old Road 30 and the Tippecanoe River, which lies three quarters of a mile away. Ground water flows that direction.
Reports indicate habitats critical to several endangered species are not affected by the chemical spill.
While traces of toluene were found in an off-site well on R.R. Donnelley property, no potable water was reported contaminated.
The area is zoned light industrial and deed restrictions will limit future use to industrial and commercial purposes. Subsurface excavations will be done under OSHA hazardous waste regulations. Potable water supply well installation is prohibited.
BASF Corp. of Michigan agreed to participate in IDEM's Voluntary Reclamation Program Tier II. Goals of the Tier II program are to bring toluene levels down to 20.44 milligrams per liter (mg/l) in groundwater and 1,000 mg/l in surface soils and subsurface soils. These cleanup levels are considered appropriate when ecological systems are not affected.
In October 1996 an air sparging system, considered the most cost effective, was installed by Parsons Engineering Science Inc. of New York.
Air sparging agitates the toluene by means of compressed air, which is then collected, contained and removed to a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act-approved waste facility.
Five combination air sparging-vapor extraction wells were constructed to 12 feet below the ground surface as well as two air sparging systems and three multi-depth soil vapor and monitor wells, all to a depth of 10 feet.
Air sparging strips the toluene from groundwater and soil, increasing the oxygen levels in the subsurface and encouraging aerobic biogeneration.
This system was expected to bring toluene levels into acceptable ranges for a nonresidential area in one year.
Two years later a Parsons report dated September 1998 shows ground water samples collected from the site on June 28, 1998, have unacceptable levels of toluene at five monitoring locations, with concentrations ranging from 64 to 420 mg/l. The sample with the highest concentration was from the well located approximately 30 feet east of the toluene storage tanks.
While the air sparging system has impacted the edges of the dissolved toluene plume, the area near the spill requires more clean-up.
Parsons intends to install four additional air sparging points along the north/south centerline of the spill area.
If IDEM receives public comment, a public hearing will be held concerning the remediation work plan. Written comments can be mailed to Thoma W. Mattox, II, project manager, IDEM, 100 N. Senate Ave., P.O. Box 6015, Indianapolis, IN 46206-6015. For further information contact Mattox at 800-451-6027.
