Canon Road Site
The Cannon Drum Site is a former cotton mill located on 3.84 acres in a mixed-use zoning area. The site was referred to EPA by the city of Social Circle. Residential homes are located within 100 feet to the west and south of the property. The mill operated at site from 1901 to 1982. The mill’s main structure was severely damaged by fire. The property has since been leased, by the owner, to tenants for various types of business use. The most recent tenant used the property to store thousands (est. 10,000-20,000) of containers of mixed hazardous substances. Reports indicate the bulk of these substances were procured from the Department of Defense Surplus Warehouse. The containers were abandoned at the site when business operations ceased at the property.
KEMRON mobilized to the site and had to develop access due to a city water line construction project operating on the site cutting across the current entrance. Site grading, construction of access roads and a construction of a pad for an office trailer were completed. Debris was removed from around the main structures on site to facilitate access to the warehouses containing drummed waste. A site drum staging area was constructed and chain link fences were constructed in two areas to develop security. An office trailer was brought in and site power, telephone, and water utilities were installed to develop a base of operation. The site was cleared and grubbed to allow safe access to all the building. Site roads were built and gravel used to make all weather access to the buildings possible.
KEMRON completed waste removal and segregation at the main warehouse where many pallets and drums were stacked on top of each other up to four high. All pallets and drums were carefully placed at floor level. Containers were then evaluated and staged for characterization. Debris was removed from the adjoining warehouse to create a drum staging area out of the weather. An open area outside of the warehouse was prepared for drum staging for containers that could withstand being outside without damage.
Waste characterization began with content evaluation that was based upon MSDS sheets and label information. Materials were then bulked and staged into waste stream hazard classes. Hazardous categorization evaluation was performed on the unknown materials to determine the hazard class. As the material was bulked in waste containers, a list of material was developed to allow competitive bidding on the disposal. Several thousand CO2 canisters were on-site and KEMRON developed a safe mechanism to allow depressurization of the canisters on-site to lower disposal and shipping cost. Radiological waste that discovered on the site was removed and sent off-site for disposal. Acids and bases were mixed on-site to neutralize the pH to a safe level and allow for non-hazardous disposal. After all hazardous materials were disposed of the non-hazardous material was loaded into roll-off containers for recycling or disposal. The site was restored leaving the access road intact.