United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region III
POLLUTION REPORT

Date:	Friday, January 29, 2010
From:	Richard Fetzer, OSC

To:	Gerald Heston, US EPA Region 3	RRC Polrep, US EPA Region III
	Karen Melvin, US EPA Reg 3	Paul Leonard, EPA

Subject:

Ongoing Removal Assessment/Removal Action
Former Mohr Orchard Arsenic Assessment
Intersection of Cortland Drive & Rome Court, Schnecksville, PA
Latitude: 40.6481000
Longitude: -75.5986000

POLREP No.:	23	Site #:	A3LG
Reporting Period:		D.O. #:
Start Date:		Response Authority:	CERCLA
Mob Date:	9/2/2008	Response Type:	Time-Critical
Demob Date:		NPL Status:	Non NPL
Completion Date:		Incident Category:	Removal Action
CERCLIS ID #:		Contract #
RCRIS ID #:

Site Description

See previous POLREPS for Site Description

Current Activities

Access for well water sampling has currently been granted for 750 properties.  784 potable water samples have been collected from residential homes for total and dissolved lead and arsenic analysis.

Analytical results have been received for 783 potable water samples.  EPA has notified residents of the results over the phone, and written letters have been sent out to both the property owner and occupant documenting the results of the potable water samples.

EPA completed follow-up soil sampling at 29 properties.  Samples have been processed and analyzed at on-site and off-site laboratories.  Letters documenting results are expected to be sent to property owners the week of February 1, 2010.

Five wells were installed to a depth of approximately 650 feet by EPA throughout the Former Mohr Orchard site.  At three of the five wells, continuous bedrock cores were collected during the drilling activities.  The wells were sampled for lead and arsenic concentrations, corrosivity by the Langolier Index, and for lead isotope analysis.  Arsenic concentrations ranged from non detect to 3.6 ppb in the five wells.  Lead concentrations ranged from non detect to 13 ppb.  Langolier index calculations identified all wells within the range of mildly to moderately corrosive.

Soil samples collected from undisturbed orchard areas, suspected to be significantly impacted by lead-arsenate spray were submitted to the University of Missouri as part of a bioavailability study for arsenic.  Results of this study identified site-specific bioavailability of arsenic to be approximately 53%.  This data will be used to assist in determination of an arsenic action level for soil at the Former Mohr Orchard site.

104(b) Assessment Costs to Date

USGS Lead Isotope Study - $160,602 (total in kind services),
                                         $55,000 (EPA obligation)
START Assessment Support - $595,755
Bioavailability Study - $50,000

Planned Removal Actions

EPA has offered bottled water to 358 property owners with well water concentrations at or greater than 11 ppb for lead, or 10 ppb for arsenic. To date, only one water sample has been identified greater than 10 ppb for arsenic. Elevated arsenic concentrations were not identified in the well on duplicate sampling occasions. EPA contractors are currently supplying bottled water to 334 property owners.

Next Steps

Potable well samples will continue to be collected from any residential property owner that requests an initial sample.  EPA will continue investigations to determine the source and/or cause of lead contamination in the ground water.

Removal action levels or cleanup levels for this site are currently being developed by EPA with the assistance of other federal, state, and local regulatory agencies.  EPA expects to have action levels developed for this site in time for any removal activities, which would begin no earlier than Spring 2010.  Once site specific action levels are determined, the 29 properties which had follow-up sampling, along with any additional properties which have samples greater than site action levels, will be contacted regarding any additional recommended action to be conducted on their property.

EPA conducted a geophysical survey on each of the five wells in order to identify potential fracture zones within each well.  Suspected fracture zones were isolated using a down-hole packer system in 20-foot intervals.  Each interval which produced water was sampled for lead isotope analysis.  Each isolated water sample was collocated with a bedrock sample from cores or drill cuttings collected during drilling activities.  One water sample was collected from each well at approximately 200 feet without isolation to represent water intake of a potable water system.  Samples were submitted to the USGS National Lab in Reston, Virginia.  Results of this sampling will be used to assist in determining if lead identified in home well systems is similar to lead within the aquifer which has never been part of a home well system.  Results are expected to be received in Spring 2010.

Estimated Costs *

	Budgeted	Total To Date	Remaining	% Remaining
Extramural Costs
ERRs	$1,400,000.00	$1,260,933.50	$139,066.50	9.93%
START	$25,000.00	$0.00	$25,000.00	100.00%
Unallocated	$515,000.00	$0.00	$515,000.00	100.00%
Intramural Costs

Total Site Costs	$1,940,000.00	$1,260,934.00	$679,066.00	35.00%

* The above accounting of expenditures is an estimate based on figures known to the OSC at the time this report was written. The OSC does not necessarily receive specific figures on final payments made to any contractor(s). Other financial data which the OSC must rely upon may not be entirely up-to-date. The cost accounting provided in this report does not necessarily represent an exact monetary figure which the government may include in any claim for cost recovery.