Stor Dynamics
Elmwood Park, Bergen County
PI #s:
003426/217600
Draft Decision Document — August 2009
Purpose of this Notice
The New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection’s (NJDEP) Site Remediation Program
is issuing this Draft Decision Document to discuss
remedial alternatives to address soil and ground
water contamination at the former Stor Dynamics
site located at 99 Main Avenue in Elmwood Park,
Bergen County, and identify the preferred remedy.
NJDEP has prepared this document for public
release and is soliciting comments during the
public comment period that runs for 30 days from
September 3 to October 2, 2009.
Site Background
The Stor Dynamics site operated between 1965
and 1989. The company subsequently went
bankrupt. A dilapidated building currently
occupies the site. While it was in operation, Stor
Dynamics shared the facility with another tenant
known as Atlas Conveyor. Stor Dynamics
manufactured and painted metal shelves and
storage units and Atlas Conveyor manufactured
and painted gravity conveyor systems. A cement
cistern inside the building held solvents for
cleaning equipment. The cistern leaked, causing
the soil and ground water at the property to
become contaminated with volatile organic
compounds (VOCs).
In 1999, NJDEP excavated approximately 760
tons of soil that were highly contaminated with
VOCs from beneath the building and backfilled
the area with clean material. In 2001, NJDEP
installed a ground water extraction system at the
site as an interim measure to remove the solvents
floating on the water table and prevent the plume
of VOC-contaminated ground water from moving
off-site. NJDEP shut the system down in 2002,
however, because it was unable to draw sufficient
ground water from the aquifer to effectively
contain the contamination.
The Stor Dynamics ground water plume is
migrating toward the Garfield City well field in
Elmwood Park, located approximately 1,000 feet
away from the site, which was once shut down
due to VOCs in the ground water. Garfield City
subsequently installed a treatment system at the
well field to remove the VOC contamination from
the water and the well field is back in operation.
Remedial Investigation Summary
NJDEP engaged a contractor to perform a
remedial investigation to determine the extent of
the VOC contamination in the soil and ground water at the Stor Dynamics site and the adjacent
Grant Industries and LaPlace Chemical sites. The
remedial investigation revealed that soils highly
contaminated with VOCs were present in the
drainage ditch that traversed all three properties.
The primary contaminants were chlorinated
VOCs, particularly trichloroethene (TCE) and
perchloroethylene (PCE). In addition, the
remedial investigation revealed there was a small
area of VOC-contaminated soil beneath the Stor
Dynamics building that had not been addressed
during the 1999 soil removal action.
The remedial investigation also confirmed the
ground water at the Stor Dynamics site was highly
contaminated with VOCs, including TCE and
PCE. Treatability studies were subsequently
performed to evaluate treatment options and
conduct a Remedial Action Selection Evaluation.
Remedial Action Selection Evaluation
Based on the findings of the Remedial
Investigation, NJDEP has conducted a Remedial
Action Selection Evaluation to evaluate options
to address the soil and ground water
contamination at the Stor Dynamics site. Two
remedial alternatives were considered: 1) Nano-Iron and Edible Oil Substrate (EOS) Injection,
and 2) Excavation and Disposal.
- Nano-Iron and EOS Injection
This remedial alternative involves injecting
submicron “nano” particles of iron into the soil
and ground water at the property, followed by an
injection of EOS, a soy bean-based oil product.
The nano-iron particles chemically react with the
chlorinated VOCs, causing them to degrade into
non-toxic compounds. The EOS is added to
stimulate the natural biodegradation of the
chlorinated VOCs that do not completely react
with the nano-iron particles. Due to the
dilapidated state of the building, it would be necessary to demolish it in order to treat the small
area of contaminated soil beneath the foundation.
The estimated cost to use Nano-Iron and EOS
Injection technology to address the soil and
ground water at this site (including the building
demolition) is $556,000.
- 2. Excavation and Disposal
This remedial alternative would entail excavating
roughly 4,000 tons of contaminated soil to the
ground water table (approximately 10 feet below
grade) and disposing of the material at an off-site
facility. The contaminated soil beneath the water
table and the contaminated ground water would
not be addressed under this alternative. The
estimated cost to excavate and dispose of the
contaminated soil outside of the Stor Dynamics
building is $732,000.
To excavate and dispose of the additional small
source area beneath the Stor Dynamics building,
the building would need to be demolished at a
cost of approximately $180,000. As a result, the
total estimated cost of Alternative 2 is $912,000.
The Remedial Alternatives were evaluated against
the following criteria:
- The ability of the remedial action to
protect public health and safety and the
environment.
- The implementability of the remedial
action
- The consistency of the remedial action
with other applicable Federal, State and
local laws and regulations
- The potential impacts of the remedial
action on the local community
- The potential for the remedial action to
cause natural resource injury
NJDEP selects the remedial alternative that offers
the best balance among the criteria listed above.
Regarding the first criterion, Alternative 1 will
be effective for source remediation in the soils
and ground water near the Stor Dynamics
building, while Alternative 2 would not be a
comprehensive remediation. Alternative 2 will
only address the contaminants to a depth of 10
feet. Ground water pumping and treatment would
be required to remove the contaminants below
10 feet. As such, Alternative 1 best addresses
the first criteria.
With respect to the second criterion, both
alternatives are implementable at the site.
Excavation is more difficult due to access issues
and nearby structures.
Regarding the third and fourth criteria, both
alternatives would be consistent with federal, state
and local requirements, and both would likely
have no impacts on the local community.
Finally, natural resource injury has already
occurred at the Stor Dynamics site, and the
remedial actions are being considered to mitigate
the injury. Therefore, both Alternative 1 and
Alternative 2 would be acceptable under the fifth
criterion.
Based on the evaluation of the two remedial
alternatives against the remedial action criteria,
NJDEP has selected Nano-Iron and EOS
Injection as the preferred approach to address
the contamination at the Stor Dynamics site.
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Draft Decision Document and Public
Comment Period
The public comment period on this Draft Decision
Document is between September 3 and October
2, 2009. Please direct any written or oral
comments to NJDEP at the following:
NJDEP Office of Community Relations
401 East State Street
P.O. Box 413
Trenton, NJ 08625
Heather Swartz, Community Relations
Coordinator
Office of Community Relations
(609) 984-7135
(800) 253-5647
Heather.Swartz@dep.state.nj.us
This Draft Decision Document is also available
online at https://www.nj.gov/dep/srp/community/
sites/stordynamics.
Adobe Acrobat version of this document [pdf 106 Kb]
Related Links
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