A.65 Sapp Battery, Jackson County, FL
Sapp Battery Salvage, FL
A.65.1 Contacts
Erik Spalvins
US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4:
Chris Pellegrino
Florida Department of Environmental Protection:
A.65.2 Summary
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Environment: |
Wetlands |
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Scale: |
Full |
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Contaminants of Concern: |
Lead |
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Final Remedy: |
Removal |
A.65.3 Site Description
The Sapp Battery Site occupies an area of approximately 45-acres in Jackson County, Florida. The site is bisected by Jackson County Road 280 and is located immediately adjacent and west of the Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad Tracks. The site includes swamp areas on the north and south sides of County Road 280.The primary source of contamination at this site was past direct discharges of battery acid to the ground.
In 1970, Sapp Battery Service, Inc. initiated battery recycling and salvaging operations at the site. The primary operating areas of the site were on the north side of County Road 280.
The business, at its peak, processed about 50,000 used batteries per week. Standard Operating Procedures during the battery salvaging operations were to dump the acid from the batteries outside the plant, where it ran southeast into the west swamp that drained to the East and Southeast swamps, under County Road 280 and eventually into Steele City Bay on the south side of County Road 280.
By 1977 the acid discharge from the plant started to kill cypress trees in Steel City Bay and beyond. It was determined that the acid runoff from the plant carried significant levels of lead-containing sediments into the swamp areas including Steele City Bay.
The company took several steps to try to alleviate the problem in response to enforcement actions. A large holding pond for acid wastewater was excavated directly south of the facility, fill material obtained from the holding pond was used to construct a berm south of the West Swamp, and a channel was dredged to connect the West and East swamps. The measures failed and operations ceased in 1980, and the site was abandoned.
The site was added to the National Priorities list in 1982. A feasibility study was completed in 1986 and a Record of Decision was signed in September 1986.
Remedial investigations confirmed the presence of lead containing sediments in the Steele City Bay.
The levels of total lead contamination have been found to range from 0 to 8,000 mg/kg. The primary operating areas of the site on the north side of County Road 280 were remediated in 1999-2000.
CSM summary: Surface water from the Sapp Battery operating area either flowed into the Northwest Swamp, into the West Swamp, or through the West culvert under County Road 280 directly into Steele City Bay. From West Swamp, the water naturally flowed to the East Swamp and then the Southeast Swamp, through the East culvert under County Road 280 and into Steele City Bay.
A.65.4 Remedial Objectives
In order to remove contaminated sediments from selected wetland areas and portions of Steele City Bay, lily pad root mass and other wetland features will have to be removed in order to address sediment bound in root mass or to tree roots.
RAO(s)/Project objectives: The primary objective of this project is to remove lead contaminated sediments from approximately 15 acres of wetland areas and Steele City Bay where lead concentrations were found to exceed 200 mg/kg.
A.65.5 Remedial Approach
Final selected remedy: Removal
The final remedy targets the contaminated sediments that exceed 200 mg/kg in Area A north of County Road 280, Areas C&G south of County Road 280 and Steele City Bay. The areas were cleared and dewatered to allow access for the removal. Access roads were constructed using imported fill. Conventional excavation means and transport were used along with sediment control structures. For Area A the excavation was planned over a 5-acre area to a depth of 2 ft. The excavation in Areas C&G and Steele City Bay was to cover approximately 10-acres to a depth of 2 ft.
Removal was selected because sediment was bound up in the root mass of the lily pads and tightly adhered to the tree stumps, tree roots, and fallen trees in both of the wetland areas. In order to remove the lead contaminated sediment these had to be cleared and the physical separation of the contaminated sediment without removing the lily pad root mass, tree stumps, roots and fallen trees was not cost effective.
Other alternatives reviewed but not selected included:
- use of specialty flotation excavation and transport equipment to excavate the sediment from under water without dewater the wetlands or bay.
- excavation of the sediments from under the water without removing any surface water followed by hydraulic dredgingDredging by use of a large suction pipe mounted on a hull and supported and moved about by a boom, a mechanical agitator, or cutter head which churns up earth in front of the pipe, and centrifugal pumps mounted on a dredge which suck up water and loose solids. with a floating barge-type cutter head dredge.
A.65.6 References
USEPA Region 4 Superfund, Sapp Battery Salvage Web Site last updated June 27, 2014. http://www.epa.gov/region4/superfund/sites/npl/florida/sapbatfl.html.
Publication Date: August 2014