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Quality Carriers Inc. (QCI) has entered into an agreement with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Environmental Remediation to clean up property in Kanawha County. The site is located along Route 25 in Institute and is occupied by a tanker truck washing facility.
QCI is working with the DEP to address environmental conditions at the site associated with its historical usage for washing residuals out of tanker trucks and previously remediated buried drums. Chemicals of potential concern associated with washing residuals out of tanker trucks include volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This site use potentially led to contamination of the soils and groundwater, which also could have been affected by previously remediated drums buried at the site.
QCI and the DEP have negotiated a voluntary remediation agreement under the state’s Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act (VRRA). The agreement includes provisions for identifying human health and ecological risks associated with current and potential future uses of the site.
The VRRA encourages voluntary clean-ups of contaminated sites, as well as redevelopments of abandoned and under-utilized properties, in the hope of counteracting the lack of growth on sites with contamination or perceived contamination. The Voluntary Program seeks to identify and address potential contamination at a given site. It also sets applicable remediation standards and confirms that the site maintains these standards.
As long as a company is following all the rules and regulations of the Voluntary Program, typical DEP enforcement actions, as well as liability under environmental laws, will be limited while the company cleans up a site. The Voluntary Program also gives companies the ability to redevelop sites with existing industrial infrastructure at a lower price, and provides financial incentives to invest in Brownfields.
Questions regarding the VRRA project should be directed to either James Rakitsky, QCI, 211 Welsh Pool Rd., Suite 100, Exton, Pa., 19341, (713) 241-7035; Catherine Guynn, project manager, WV DEP, 601 57th St., Charleston, W.Va. 25304, (304) 926-0499 ext. 1288; or Robert Fargo, Licensed Remediation Specialist, SAIC, 300 Wharton Circle, Suite 176, Triadelphia, W.Va., 26059, (304) 547-2120.