U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that Beazer East has finished soil cleanup at 103 residential structures at the Cabot Koppers site in Gainesville, Fla. The cleanup was accomplished with 100% participation from property owners. Cleanup also took place at seven commercial buildings, four vacant lots, and the Genesis Preparatory School.
In the end of 2013, a contractor for Beazer East conducted cleanup at the first parcel as a pilot project. The full project began in late February 2014. Soil replacement was completed on October 21, 2014. The entire remediation project, including final landscaping was completed on November 19, 2014.
Future activities at the site will include: Containment of the contaminated soil in lined cell(s), followed by installation of a multi-layer cap over the containment area accommodating future recreational, commercial, industrial, and mixed-use with a restricted residential use of the property
Treatment of the identified threat contaminants in the four source areas and below the engineered cap
To address contamination within the shallow Surficial Aquifer and the Hawthorn Aquifer beneath it, a 65-foot vertical barrier wall will be installed below the engineered cap that will encompass the four source areas of contamination. Operation and maintenance of the cap and containment system
Institutional controls to restrict future use of the site to uses which are compatible with the remedy
Long-term monitoring to ensure the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment
Statutory five-year reviews of the remedy
The 140-acre site is located in Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida, approximately one mile east of U.S Highway 441. The site includes two properties: the Koppers area, covering 90 acres on the western side of the site, and the Cabot Carbon area, covering 50 acres on the eastern side of the site. Commercial businesses and apartments border the site to the north and south, undeveloped land borders the site to the east and single-family homes border the site to the west. The City of Gainesville’s Public Works Compound and Springstead Creek are located northwest of the site.
A wood treating facility operated on the Koppers portion of the site from 1916 until 2009. Cabot Carbon operated a charcoal production facility on the Cabot Carbon portion of the site. In 1984, EPA listed the site on the National Priority List. A shopping mall, car dealerships and several other stores and businesses currently operate on the Cabot Carbon portion of the site.
