Success Stories: Pilot Programs

Pilot programs are EPA clean up sites where emissions reduction and clean diesel technology has been used in the clean up.

Landfill Gas Is Converted to Electric Power at Operating Industries, Inc.

Located 10 miles east of Los Angeles in Monterey Park, CA, Operating Industries, Inc. (OII) Landfill Site is divided into two parcels by the Pomona Highway (Highway 60): The North Parcel is owned by A.H.A.S., Inc and contains about 45 acres; the South Parcel is owned by OII and contains about 145 acres. Of the 45 acres in the North Parcel, only about 10 are known to have been used as a landfill, and contain mostly C&D waste (wood, glass, metal, paper, cardboard, brick, asphalt, concrete, and plastic). The South Parcel received the majority of the waste and contains residential and commercial refuse, liquid wastes, and various hazardous wastes. The facility closed operations and stopped accepting wastes in 1984. Full Story »

Solar Power Used to Pump Water through GAC Systems at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Developed in the 1950s as a research facility, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Site 300 covers approximately 11-square miles and is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The lab was primarily used as a high-explosives and materials testing site in support of nuclear weapons research. As a result of various on-site activities, including spills, leaking pipes, and leaching underground landfills and pits, the groundwater became contaminated with solvents, VOCS, tritium, uranium-238, highly explosive compounds, nitrate and perchlorate. Full Story »

Molasses Injections at Selma Result in Multiple Environmental and Economic Benefits

Located near the town of Selma, the Selma Superfund Site is a former wood-treating facility located approximately 15 miles south of the city of Fresno, California. The site is situated in a transition zone between agricultural, residential, and industrial areas and encompasses nearly 18 acres of land. Full Story »

Solar Power Used to Pump Water through Wetlands at Apache Powder

Located in Cochise County, Arizona, the Apache Powder Superfund site is approximately seven miles southeast of the incorporate town of Benson and 2.5 miles southwest of the unincorporated town of St. David. The site takes up approximately nine square miles and includes former operations known as Apache Powder Company, a former industrial chemicals and explosives manufacturer. Contaminants identified on-site include high concentrations of heavy metals in ponds, arsenic, fluoride and nitrate in perched groundwater, DNT in a drum disposal area, and nitrate in shallow wells including a domestic drinking well with 470mg/L nitrate. The primary exposure path for the contaminants is direct ingestion of the contaminated groundwater. Full Story »

Frontier Fertilizer Superfund Site

Located near the eastern border of Davis, California, Frontier Fertilizer Superfund Site encompasses nearly 14 acres of land. Since 1995, EPA has been operating a groundwater extraction and treatment system; its remediation efforts also include the use of electrical energy to heat and reduce the most contaminated areas. To offset energy use, a Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System was installed on the roof of the treatment building. The 5.7 kW PV System was designed and installed by Roseville Solar Electric (RSE) on December 2007 and consists of 30 Evergreen ES-190-RL and 190 Watt solar modules formed into ten 3-module panels. Full Story »

Clean Diesel Technology used at Camp Pendleton Superfund Site

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base utilized clean diesel technology to excavate 120,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil as part of the Cleanup-Clean Air Initiative. This project is the result of a partnership between EPA, Navy, Marine Corps, West Coast Environmental (the cleanup contractor), Caterpillar and Huss (equipment suppliers). These efforts are especially important because non-road vehicles account for nearly 30% of all diesel particulate emissions in California, making them the largest single source of these emissions. These emissions are linked to reduced lung capacity and asthma and are likely human carcinogens. Full Story »

Solar Panels Installed at The Pemaco Superfund Site

As part of the U.S. EPA's new Cleanup - Clean Air Initiative, solar panels recently installed at the Pemaco Superfund site will supply renewable energy to the equipment used to cleanup contamination at the Maywood, Calif. site. The three kilowatt solar panels will supply power to the remediation system, which will cleanup the soil and groundwater with high-vacuum pumps to draw out contaminants and electrical resistance heating to heat the soil and vaporize contaminants, making it easier for them to be collected and treated. Full Story »

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