Study on Michaud site in works

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POCATELLO — The 2,530 acre Eastern Michaud Flats Superfund site is made up of the J.R. Simplot Don Plant, the former FMC plant and includes all off-plant contamination from both phosphate companies.

Kira Lynch, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act project manager, said groundwater studies in 1976 showed levels of arsenic, lead and cadmium above federal standards, and both plants were listed as national priorities in 1990.

During a presentation at Pocatello City Hall Wednesday, Lynch said a 1998 agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency and the companies was aimed at protecting human health and the environment. The EPA is reviewing that Record of Decision, especially regarding the former FMC site.

The phosphate plant closed in 2001 before a consent decree was signed, and concerns about the agreement were raised. The first agreement with FMC was not signed until 2003.

Lynch said a study at the plant indicated that contamination existed throughout the site. Processing and storage areas, as well as areas where leakage and spills occurred, showed levels of contamination above federal standards and gamma levels above the standard for future workers. Soil samples found elevated levels down to 85 feet.

Sampling has been done over the past 18 months, and Lynch said the EPA is working with the Department of Environmental Quality and the Shohone-Bannock tribes to process that data.

The results of a groundwater study at the company’s property north of Highway 30 is due next month, and a feasibility report outlining options at the site are expected later this year.

Lynch said a proposed plan is expected to be available for public review by 2009. By 2010, an agreement is expected between FMC and the EPA.

Simplot also conducted a yearlong study to determine how ground water moves, Lynch said, and that data will serve as the remedial design to implement and expand the company’s water extraction system.

“Simplot has actually been taking action over the years,” she said.

Lynch said more than a dozen extraction wells pump water from under Simplot onto the plant’s gypsum stack to lower the concentration of arsenic reaching the Portneuf River.

“The ground water study will help determine how many more extraction wells are needed, where they are needed, and what kind of monitoring should be done in the future,” Lynch said.

EPA spokesman Mark Masarik said multiple jurisdiction complicated management efforts at Eastern Michaud Flats.

Pond 16S at the former FMC plant is of primary concern, Masarik said.

The pond, located off Highway 30 and built in 1993, was closed in 2005. The following year, high concentrations of toxic flammable gas were detected and intermittent smoke came from under the cap.

The EPA ordered FMC to characterize the gas, conduct ambient air monitoring and design and implement a gas extraction system.

“Sampling indicates high levels of phosphine under the cap,” Masarik said. “But it is not in the ambient air.”

In April the gas extraction systems started operating at the former phosphate plant.

Masarik said the systems pull gas from the ponds and pumps inert gas at the same rate. The gas goes through two filtration systems where it’s absorbed and sent out in exhaust at a reduced concentration of .3-parts per million. Masarik said the system encountered problems, including overheating and auto-ignition of phosphine gas.

“We’re still generating gas in Pond 16S and monitoring is ongoing,” he said. “There are no gases being detected that pose a risk to the public.”

Kelly Wright, an environmental specialist for the Shohone-Bannock tribes, said FMC notified the EPA about the leakage at Pond 16S.

The tribes were one of a handful of Native American entities nationwide to enact their own hazardous waste policies and standards, and Wright said environmental experts for the tribes are working with he EPA to oversee management of the eight ponds left behind by FMC.Carla Fisher will oversee future management of the FMC ponds.

Water was removed from the ponds, capped with earth and vegetation, between 1993 and 2006. During the process, solid waste could not be exposed to air or it ignited, she said.

All of the holding areas except Pond 8S are lined, and gas extraction systems are in place on all the ponds, Fisher said.

Future management of the ponds includes monitoring of phosphine and other gases, soil sampling and expanding the list of monitored contaminants.

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