PCBs detected in soil samples taken at a Fayetteville property during EPA testing in June are below the levels requiring a clean-up and are a different type of PCB than the ones found at Shaffer’s, according to EPA officials.
EPA collected soil, sediment, surface water and ground water samples from the Shaffer Equipment site in Minden and for approximately one mile down from the site in May and June.
According to a press release by EPA, of the 41 soil samples, there were two samples collected at residences that were above 1 parts per million (ppm), which represents the residential cleanup level for this site.
Of the 25 sediment samples from Arbuckle Creek, there were two samples that detected PCBs above the 1 ppm level (50 ppm and 6.2 ppm).
EPA agents also collected soil and surface water samples from an unnamed tributary that runs along an area where residents provided information about a former dump location located at Concho.
EPA conducted the recent sampling in response to concerns from residents about potential health effects from the former Shaffer Equipment Co. site where EPA conducted cleanup work in the 1980s and 1990s.
EPA’s work included excavating soil and constructing a cap over about one acre of the six-acre site that included the remains of a demolished building and some remaining contaminated soil.
The survey detected multiple metal anomalies including one that was the potentially the size of a tanker or underground storage tank, Seneca stated.
Results showed one sample with PCBs at a concentration of 0.150 ppm, which is below the level required for residential clean-up.
The PCBs detected are a different type than those at the Shaffer Equipment site and the concentration is well below the cleanup level, Seneca reported.