Report recommends Bartow property be removed from state’s hazardous site inventory

By JAMES SWIFT

The results of a compliance status report (CSR) could lead to a property in Bartow County being removed from the state’s hazardous site inventory (HSI.) 

Woodstock-based Maxis Engineering, LLC prepared the CSR — which was filed in September — on behalf of Zep, Inc. Citing groundwater and soil sample findings from early 2017, the author of the report recommends that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Protection Division delist the facility at 63 Industrial Drive in Cartersville from its HSI.

“Overall, VOC [volatile organic compound] concentrations at the site are stable and/or decreasing apart from several wells around the cistern and downgradient from the cistern,” the Maxis report states. “These areas are within the building footprint or are covered by asphalt; therefore, the likelihood of worker exposure is limited.”

The property, which sits on about 6.46 acres and is classified as I4-Industrial, was placed on the HSI on Jan. 23, 2013. The EPD designated the parcel as a Class II site, which means the property owners were allowed to voluntarily investigate and clean up the site and report those findings back to the agency.

No corrective actions are required at Class II-designated sites, nor are owners of such sites mandated to place HSI notices on deeds or other property records. 

“The subject property was added to the HSI due to the confirmed release of vinyl chloride to groundwater at levels exceeding the reportable quantity,” the Maxis report reads. “Other substances detected in groundwater primarily included halogenated solvents, their degradation by-products and petroleum-related volatile organic compounds.”

Per the Maxis report, the 134,000-square-foot building on the property was initially constructed in 1950. Today, the site is occupied by two companies — Gulf Coast Recycling and Commuter Craft; Bartow County Board of Assessors data indicates the property is currently owned by Holt Family Property Holdings, LLC.

Representative David Holt said there are no plans to sell the property. He also said the reason Zep, Inc. requested the CSR is because they are potentially “liable” for the VOCs at the site, having acquired former site tenant Amrep, Inc. in 2010.

Amrep, Inc. purchased the 63 Industrial Drive facility in 1989 and used the site for chemical blending operations until 1993.

According to Maxis, four VOCs were detected above the state’s risk reduction standards (RRS) in the facility’s aquifers following groundwater collection in early 2017, including vinyl chloride, tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethene. However, the author of the report states those concentrations are “decreasing and/or stable” and “horizontally delineated within subject property boundaries to below the proposed RRS.”

Nor does the author of the study believe that “VOC plume” is likely to impact adjacent properties.

“Based on the vertical and horizontal delineation observed in the results of the 26 years of empirical groundwater sampling data,” the report states, “it is highly unlikely that the off-site industrial wells, the residential well or the downgradient surface water body will be impacted by the VOC plume on the subject property.”

The property is the only site, of any class designation, in Bartow County listed on the state’s HSI. 

Montague McPherson, an environmental specialist with the state EPD, said the agency is still examining the CSR. 

“The review process is currently ongoing and the timetable for when this review will be completed will be dependent upon the complexity of the site, contaminants and site history,” he said. “A facility must demonstrate that they meet the criteria listed in Section 391-3-19-.07 of our rules in order to be removed from the HSI. This typically involves varying degrees of investigations and corrective actions.”

As for how soon the property would be removed from the HSI, Montague couldn’t give an estimate. 

“There is no standard timeframe for removal from the inventory,” he said.