Hazardous Waste Cleanup: TC Harmans Road LLC (Formerly: Kop-Flex Incorporated) in Hanover, Maryland

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Cleanup Status

EPA prepared a Statement of Basis (SB) to solicit public comment on its proposed remedy on March 18, 2016.   No comments were received on the proposed remedy. The Final Decision and Response to Comments (FDRTC) was signed by EPA on May 4, 2016.  The FDRTC requires the compliance and maintenance of land and groundwater use restrictions, extraction and treatment of onsite groundwater, and long-term groundwater monitoring; all implemented through an Administrative Order on Consent (Sept. 30, 2016).

 Cleanup Background:

A supplemental remedial action designed to address source area soils containing chlorinated volatile organic compounds and 1,4-dioxane in Area One and Area Two was completed in March 2014. A total of 793 cubic yards (c.y.) of source area soil was excavated in Area Two and 1,746 c.y. in Area One. Both excavation areas were backfilled with clean fill and the surface was restored to grade.

The dual phase vapor extraction wells were abandoned by over drilling the well casings and then backfilling the boreholes with bentonite grout. The treatment equipment for the dual phase vapor extraction system was decommissioned.

The aboveground components of the UVB well system in Areas Two and Four were dismantled and removed from the site in February 2014.

An aquifer test scope of work (SOW) was submitted to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region III on March 12, 2014. The Statement of Work (SOW) detailed the design, performance and data evaluation associated with aquifer testing to be conducted for purposes of determining site-specific hydraulic properties of the shallow and deep aquifers.

Final engineering design documents for a water line extension along Twin Oaks Road and connecting four homes to the water line were approved by Anne Arundel County in December 2013.

During the week of February 10, 2014 water samples were collected at six residences with potable wells that were identified by MDE for continued monitoring. No Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs) were detected in any of the six samples above applicable groundwater comparative criteria.

Upon completion of the SOW, the facility will evaluate the hydrogeologic properties of the shallow and deep aquifers, then design and install two separate pump and treat systems to mitigate groundwater impacts.

June 2015, a Response Action Plan was submitted to MDE and EPA detailing the proposed groundwater remedy of pump and treat for groundwater contamination. Onsite confirmatory groundwater monitoring will be performed.

June 2015, an Offsite Groundwater Monitoring Plan was submitted detailing additional offsite monitoring well installation and periodic monitoring.

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Site Description

Interactive Map of Kop-Flex Incorporated, Hanover, Maryland


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The facility is located in a mixed residential, industrial, and commercial area approximately two miles southwest of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The current property is comprised of approximately 25 acres.

The facility consists of two buildings – an approximately 220,000-square-foot former manufacturing building and an approximately 20,000-square-foot former forge building near the eastern property boundary.

The facility was constructed in 1969 by the Power Transmission Division of Koppers Company, Inc., with a forge building built in 1979. This division eventually split off from Koppers in 1986 and formed Kop-Flex, Inc. Ten years later, Emerson acquired the Kop-Flex manufacturing operations in 1996.

The facility consists of three main areas: the administrative offices, the manufacturing building, and the former forge shop. Kop-Flex formerly manufactured flexible couplings, including precision forging, for the power transmission industry.

Kop Flex ceased manufacturing operations in 2011 and the building is currently used only for sales and engineering support.

In 1996, Emerson Electric Company acquired Kop-Flex and continued manufacturing couplings and drives at the site through 2011. From 2012 to 2014, the manufacturing operations were decommissioned. In late 2014, Emerson transferred the property to EMERSUB 16 LLC and entered into an agreement to sell the property to Trammel Crow who plans to redevelop the property for commercial use.

The facility operated two remedies for soil and groundwater contamination since the early 2000’s: a dual-phase extraction system beneath a corner of the plant floor; and, vacuum vaporized well remediation system was installed in the former drainfield that used a system of wells to extract, treat, and return the groundwater to the aquifer in a recirculating pattern.

The detection of site-related VOCs at the property line, which is hydraulically downgradient of the inferred source area, prompted further characterization of the groundwater quality in the aquifer. During 2012, three additional onsite monitoring wells were installed to gather additional data south and east of the source and presence of any VOC impacts upgradient of this area. In addition, a well was installed south of the Kop-Flex facility on the adjoining property to determine whether chlorinated VOCs had migrated to the hydraulically downgradient off-property area.

In addition to an offsite investigation workplan from the facility proposing additional offsite well installation, MDE’s Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP)/Brownfields program collected water samples from identified local residential wells downgradient from the site. VCP received results from offsite residential wells that identified the presence of 1,1-dichloroethene above the maximum contaminant level (MCL) on 12/5/2012.

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Contaminants at this Facility

There were 17 different solid waste management units or areas of concerns identified on the site.

Sampling and analysis in 1996 and 1997 identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the soil and groundwater at the property. The VOC contamination is attributed to the historic use of degreasing solvents and the on-site discharge of wastewater.

VOCs were detected in the soil in the vicinity of the product storage area. The groundwater contamination resulted from the discharge of caustic wastewater from a treatment system to an on-site drainage field, which operated from 1969 until 1986, and was designed to treat wastewater.

The following VOCs were detected in this area at concentrations that exceed MCLs: 1,1,1-TCA, 1,1,2-TCA, PCE, TCE, 1,2-DCA, 1,1-DCE and vinyl chloride.

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Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility

 The institutional controls for the facility include:

  • Extraction and treatment of onsite groundwater
  • Long term groundwater monitoring
  • Compliance with and maintenance of land and groundwater use restrictions
  • Engineering controls, and
  • Soil management

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Land Reuse Information at this Facility

The facility ceased operation in 2011 and the manufacturing area is vacant.

As of July 2015, TC Harmans Road, LLC is a prospective purchaser of the facility, and MDE approved its status as an Inculpable Person under the Maryland Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP).

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Site Responsibility at this Facility

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action activities at this facility are being conducted under the direction of the EPA Region 3 with assistance from Maryland Department of Environmental Protection.

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