A.80 Grand Calumet River (West Branch), Hammond, IN (Reaches 3, 4-5)
A.80.1 Contacts
Regulatory Agencies: USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), Hammond Sanitary District (HSD)
Contact for Federal Regulatory Agency:
Marc Tuchman
USEPA Region 5,
Chicago IL,
312-353-1369
Contact for Engineering Design/Construction Management:
James Wescott, P.E.
Project Manager
Tetra Tech EM Inc.
One South Wacker Drive, Suite 3700
Chicago, IL 60606
312-201-7781
A.80.2 Summary
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Environment: |
Inland river, freshwater, Great Lakes area |
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Scale: |
Full |
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Contaminants of Concern: |
PAHs, PAHs, PCBs, heavy metals, pesticides |
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Source Control Achieved Prior to Remedy Selection? |
Yes / Site Characterization, Remedial Options Plan, Removal Action completed prior to placement of capA covering over material (contaminated sediment) used to isolate the contaminants from the surrounding environment. (Reaches 3, 4-5) |
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Final Remedy: |
Dredging, Granular AC Cap, cover cap (Reaches 3, 4-5) |
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Expected Recovery Time: |
3-5 years |
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Viewed as a success? |
Yes /in-progress |
A.80.3 Site Description
Primary source(s): Past direct discharges and releases from heavily industrialized urban inland waterway. About 90 percent of the river flow starts as municipal and industrial discharges, cooling and process water, and stormwater overflows.
The Grand Calumet River originates in the east end of Gary, Indiana and flows 13 miles through the cities of Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond, Indiana. The project focuses on a one-mile section of the West Branch of the Grand Calumet River. The WBGCR is a shallow, meandering creek approximately 50 ft wide and 1-2 ft deep during most of the year. The remaining surface area within the 150-wide channel had been overgrown with invasive species including the common reed. During heavy rains, water depth rises to several feet, covering the vegetation from bank to bank. Within the center of the WBGCR the soft sediment is about 10 ft deep.
The project is located in one of the most heavily industrialized areas in the United States. Past and present industrial operations in the area include steel mills, foundries, chemical plants, and oil refineries. Permitted discharges from industrial operations, municipal wastewater treatment plants, and other sources contribute substantial quantities of wastewater to the river system. Nonpoint sources of contaminants to the system include urban and industrial runoff, combined sewer overflows, leachate or overflow from a number of waste fills or ponds, and spills in and around industrial operations.
A.80.4 Remedial Objectives
Site characterization, source controlThose efforts that are taken to eliminate or reduce, to the extent practicable, the release of COCs from direct and indirect ongoing sources to the aquatic system being evaluated., site remediationThe act or process of abating, cleaning up, containing, or removing a substance (usually hazardous or infectious) from an environment., and site restoration of a one-mile section of WBGCR, including: removal of 142,000 yd3 of contaminated sediment (2-3 ft deep), followed by placement of cap over the dredged area, followed by habitat restoration of some of the most diverse native plant and animal communities in the Great Lakes Basin. The site remediation program is being coordinated with sewer improvements being made by the Hammond Sanitary District that include some sediment cleanup along this stretch of the river. Future plans include sediment remediation of Reaches 1-2 and 6-7, as well as the adjacent Roxanna Marsh.
Site-specific numerical Preliminary Remediation Goals (PRGs) for selected COCs and COC mixtures were developed largely using matching sediment chemistry and sediment toxicity data from the WBGCR. The PRGs were derived from site-specific concentration-response models designed to provide a basis for classifying sediment samples as toxic or not toxic based on whole sediment chemistry alone. Although PRGs were derived for eight trace metals, 12 individual PAHs and PAH classes, total PCBs, and various COC mixtures, no attempt was made to identify the substance or substances that were causing the observed toxicity in the WBGCR. The numerical PRGs for sediment-associated COCs also needed to address risks to aquatic-dependent wildlife associated with the bioaccumulationThe accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost. Thus, the longer the biological half-life of the substance the greater the risk of chronic poisoning, even if environmental levels of the toxin are not very high. of certain COCs in the tissues of aquatic organisms (prey species). However, rather than developing wildlife-based PRGs, the level of protection offered to avian and mammalian species by the benthic PRGs was evaluated as a first step in the process, with GIS-based spatial analysis tools used to estimate average concentrations of key bioaccumulative COCs (for example, mercury and total PCBs) following implementation of the preferred remedial alternative. Simple bioaccumulation and food web models were then used to estimate post-remediation potential exposure and risks to aquatic-dependent wildlife.
Concerns for this case study include both ecological and human health risks associated with PCBs, PAHs, heavy metals, and pesticides. Based on an analysis of multiple lines of evidencePieces of evidence are organized to show relationships among multiple hypotheses or complex interactions among agent, events, or processes. A weight of evidence approach includes the assignment of a numeric weight to each line of evidence., concentrations of a number of constituents in WBGCR sediments were sufficient to impact bed sediments and associated biological resources, including: trace metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc); PAHs (13 individual PAHs and total PAHs); PCBs (total PCBs); pesticides (chlordane, DDTs, heptachlor, and lindane); phenol; and unionized ammonia.
- The sediment cleanup action objectives are focused on addressing concerns relative to the bioaccumulation of COC in the tissues of benthic invertebrates, fish, and aquatic-dependent wildlife. The following RAOs were established:
- Reduce the concentrations of COCs in fish tissues to levels that are not associated with adverse effects on survival, growth, reproduction, or the incidence of lesions or tumors.
- Reduce the concentrations of COCs in the tissues of prey species to levels that do not pose unacceptable risks to insectivorous birds, sediment-probing birds, carnivorous-wading birds, piscivorous birds, or omnivorous mammals.
- Reduce the concentrations of COCs in fish to levels that do not pose unacceptable risks to human health. Surface water quality was addressed separately by IDEM through the development of TMDLs and the NPDES permitting process.
A.80.5 Remedial Approach
Final selected remedy: Mechanical dredging, granular AC cap, cover cap, and habitat restoration of a one-mile area of WBGCR. Remedial construction activities have been completed to date for Reach 3 (fall 2010) and Reach 4-5 (Fall 2011). Remedial Options Plan completed in 2006.
The remedial construction for Reaches 3 and 4-5 included: sheet pile coffer dam, semi-permanent weir, temporary steel sheet pile diversion barrier and intermediate barriers, dewatering system, temporary water treatment system, excavation to 4 ft below existing elevation, in situ sediment dewatering using drying agent, staging/off-site sediment disposal, installation of reactive core mats (RCMs) designed to capture residual contaminants, and site restoration with placement of 2-ft thick sediment cap and riprap as scour protection. Temporary facilities were removed following completion of construction including: water treatment system, stormwater diversion berms, and temporary fences. River access ramps were re-graded. Disturbed areas were re-vegetated using a native seed mix. The RCMs (patented permeable composite mats consisting of reactive materials encapsulated in a non-woven core matrix bound between two geotextiles) were placed to treat contaminants carried by advective or diffusive flow, which allowed for a thinner cap thickness (than traditional sand caps) with the added stability and physical isolation provided by the geotextiles materials.
Mechanical dredging and cappingTechnology which covers contaminated sediment with material to isolate the contaminants from the surrounding environment. was selected for WBGCR Reaches 3 and 4-5 due to dry conditions majority of year. The criteria used to evaluate the remedial alternatives include:
- overall protectiveness increase with volume of sediment removed
- performance increase with volume of sediment removed
- long-term effectiveness increase with use of high-preference remediation technologies
- short-term risk management decrease with increased dredging
- feasibility
- consideration of public concerns addresses the volume of contamination.
- restoration time-frame
- probable cost
Final selected remedy: Alternative 5B - Removal of Sediments and Capping to Meet PRGs and to Reduce Ecological and Human Health Risks to Acceptable Levels in Reaches 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and Roxana Marsh.
Multiple lines of evidence were used to evaluate sediment impacts, including bulk sediment, pore waterWater located in the interstitial compartment (between solid-phase particles) of bulk sediment. and elutriate chemistry data, as well as biological community and habitat assessments. Pore-water samples from the WBGCR were shown to be severely toxic to fish. Benthic invertebrate communities were shown to be altered with a reduction in the abundance of preferred fish food organisms. Fish populations inhabiting the WBGCR were found to be severely reduced, most likely as a result of severe habitat degradation. Sediment contaminant concentrations frequently exceeded the levels that have been established to protect piscivorous wildlife species (such as herons, kingfishers, and mink). Therefore, it was concluded that contaminated sediments were adversely affecting fish and wildlife resources using habitats in the WBGCR.
Site characterization, remedial options plan, engineering design, and remedial construction for Reaches 3 and 4-5 completed in fall 2011; remedial construction for Reaches 1-2 planned for summer 2012; engineering design for Reaches 6-7 currently in progress; long-term monitoring plan for Reaches 3 and 4-5 in progress (planned completion fall 2011).
A.80.6 Monitoring
TBD / Long-term Monitoring Plan was scheduled for completion fall 2011.
Costs: The project was funded by 65% USEPA and 35% IDNR/IDEM cost-share agreement under Great Lakes Legacy Act. The project budget was $31.1M for WBGCR Reach 3. The project was also funded by U.S. Department of Interior Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program settlement funds. Related upland restoration activities near the Grand Calumet River have been under way for many years, including protection and restoration of rare habitats such as dune and swale and native prairies, as part of a larger Chicago/Northwest Indiana Corridor where a regional restoration plan is in place. The WBGCR sediment remediation and shoreline restoration activities will complement the ongoing habitat restoration efforts in this area.
RAOs/project objectives achieved? The project is viewed as a success.
A.80.7 References
USEPA. Legacy Act Grand Calumet River Cleanup Gets Underway. 2009.http://epa.gov/glnpo/sediment/legacy/grandcal/grdcalFactsht2.pdf.
http://restoration.doi.gov/Content.aspx?ContentId=112.
Development and Evaluation of Risk-Based Preliminary Remediation Goals for Selected Sediment-Associated Contaminants of Concern in the West Branch of the Grand Calumet River. http://www.in.gov/idem/files/grandcal_prg_report_nov05.pdf.
http://www.in.gov/idem/files/RADreport-final.pdf.
Publication Date: August 2014