Potential Contaminant Sources (DRAFT)

• Introduction
  
• Contaminant Data

Introduction • top

The watershed encompasses several federal and state Superfund sites.

Site	Environmental Concerns	References	USEPA Information
Crouse Bros. Excavating	TCE plume under site - could be from Thiokol or dumping from Galaxy Chemicals.   Residential wells contaminated with TCE.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 39K]
Dwyer Property	VOCs, chlorinated solvents, and inorganics in groundwater.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 37K] Map [1 page, 2M]
Elkton Farm Firehole	Buried munitions, chromium, mercury, arsenic, lead, TCE, explosive compounds; PCE groundwater plume may be flowing under GE Railcar property.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 37K] Map [1 page, 2M]
Galaxy/Spectron Superfund Site	Primarily chlorinated solvents (VOCs and SVOCs), some metals.	MDE, 1996	Official USEPA Site
Ionics	VOCs in groundwater.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [2 pages, 34K] Map [1 page, 2M]
Keystone Fireworks	3 contaminated residential wells near the site; families are on bottled water.	USEPA, 2005
Maryland Sand Gravel and Stone	Primarily VOCs in groundwater and soil.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 37K] Map [1 page, 2M]
New Jersey Fireworks	Barium in soil; waste disposal areas; old fireworks being stored on site.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 37K] Map [1 page, 2M]
RMR, JMR Corp.	VOCs in groundwater; PCBs and metals.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 39K] Map [1 page, 2M]
Route 7 Chemical Dump	Barium in surface water, PCE in groundwater.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 36K]
Vicon	Chlorinated solvents and inorganics in groundwater.  No explosives found.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet  [3 pages 38K] Map [1 page, 2M]
Triumph Industrial Park:
Central Chemical	PCE plume from GE Railcar site migrating under Central Chemical site.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 39K] Map [1 page, 2M]
GE Railcar/P&R Railcar Service	On-site groundwater impacted, and off-site groundwater possibly impacted. Limited on-site soil impacts.  Benzene, chlorobenzene, chlorinated solvents.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [2 pages, 40K] Map [1 page, 2M]
Maryland Cork	Possible PCE plume under site.	USEPA, 2005
Thiokol/ATK Tactical Systems	Soil, groundwater, and surface water impacted by pesticides, PCE, TCE.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 20K] Map [1 page, 2M]
W.L. Gore	VOCs surface water contamination.	USEPA, 2005	Fact Sheet [3 pages, 38K]

Contaminant Data • top

Information from Fact Sheets prepared by USEPA for individual facilities in the Little Elk Creek Area-Wide Cleanup Program Pilot, indicate that volatile organic compounds are present in groundwater at elevated levels at many of the facilities.  Perchloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and perchlorate are the primary groundwater contaminants of concern in the area.

Little Elk Creek Area-Wide One Cleanup Pilot Program

Click to enlarge photo.

 

Groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as TCE, may discharge to surface water in Little Elk Creek.  VOCs in surface water evaporate into the air and will break down relatively quickly.  Thus VOCs generally do not build up in sediment.  VOCs also do not accumulate in fish, but low levels have been found in them at some sites (ATSDR, 1997).  Fish tissue testing has not been conducted in Little Elk Creek.  Low levels of VOCs in groundwater, though a concern for human exposure in drinking water, generally are not a concern in surface water bodies.

Soil contamination includes buried munitions, metals, explosive compounds, pesticides, PCE, and TCE.  Soil contamination is generally limited to on-site impacts.  Metals, most explosive compounds (e.g., TNT), and pesticides (particularly organochlorine pesticides like DDT) attach strongly to soil particles and generally do not migrate large distances in groundwater.  Surface water runoff that discharges to the Little Elk Creek is a strong concern for these contaminants.  Thus source control actions at the site should be given a high priority.
In addition to the sites being investigated, there are numerous anthropogenic or non-point sources of these contaminants (metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon [PAHs], pesticides).  Therefore, from a watershed perspective, it is very important to maintain adequate vegetative buffers along the stream that prevent direct runoff of stormwater.  Another priority is to promote Low Impact Development (LID) techniques in the watershed that capture and make beneficial use of stormwater runoff rather than channeling stormwater directly to Little Elk Creek through drains or ditches.  This also helps protect the stream against flooding and improves water quality by reducing inputs of nutrients and suspended solids.

The Little Elk Creek project team is working to improve the characterization of contaminants in the watershed.  USEPA is collecting and mapping data from contaminated sites in the watershed.  The majority of the data are about groundwater; there appears to be limited surface water and sediment contaminant data in the watershed.  NOAA will continue to evaluate contaminant data as it becomes available.