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U.S. EPA AND MSG HOLD OPEN HOUSE AT MCCOLL SUPERFUND SITE

Release Date: 1/21/1995
Contact Information: Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1587

ATTENTION EDITORS:  EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 A.M. PST, JANUARY 21, 1995

     (San Francisco)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(U.S. EPA) and the McColl Site Group (MSG), the oil companies
responsible for the contamination, today announced they will
launch the final phase of work; a full-scale test to solidify the
hazardous waste at the McColl Superfund site, Fullerton, Calif.
The announcement was made at an open house U.S. EPA and MSG
sponsored at the site for the community.
   
    "U.S. EPA believes this is a significant milestone for this
site, said Jeff Zelikson, U.S. EPA's regional hazardous waste
management director.  "Through cooperation we can accomplish what
this community has been looking forward to for so long--cleanup.  
We believe this test will allow us to collect the data we need to
design the site-wide remediation program and get this cleanup
accomplished as quickly and effectively as possible."  

    "By providing Fullerton residents with the opportunity to
participate in this community open house and ask questions, we
hope that residents will understand the significance of this last
and critical phase of remediation testing," said Kent Rogers,
spokesperson for MSG.  "We look forward to our joint efforts with
U.S. EPA and regulatory agencies to bring about a speedy solution
to the McColl site."

     The open house allowed the community to become familiarized
with the equipment that will be used in the full-scale test to
treat and solidify portions of several sumps filled with highly
acidic sludge and soils.  Representatives from U.S. EPA and the
the MSG were on hand to explain the newly constructed air
treatment system that will treat air emissions from the
solidification process and to answer questions.


     The full-scale solidification testing will begin Tuesday,
January 31, 1995; it is part of the cleanup plan selected by the
U.S. EPA in 1993.  The cleanup plan involves neutralizing and
solidifying the upper portion of the sumps at the site and
installing a multilayer, impermeable cap.  The Agency estimates
that the cleanup can be concluded in four to six years.

    The testing is expected to take approximately two to three
months to complete.  The results will then be evaluated by U.S.
EPA to determine the technical feasibility before preceeding to
perform the process on the remaining sumps at the site.  If
solidification is not selected, U.S. EPA will require the waste
be capped.

     Solidification work will be conducted during the regular
workweek, operating Monday through Friday.  U.S. EPA will
maintain an on-site trailer to supervise the work activity.
Anyone with questions or concerns should call U.S. EPA at (714)
521-6083.  

    The McColl Site Group, which is conducting the work under
U.S. EPA order, selected Millgard Environmental Inc. to perform
the full-scale testing.  Millgard has worked at several Superfund
sites and other locations with waste materials similar to those
found at McColl.  Millgard will operate as a subcontractor to
MSG's prime contractor, Morrison-Knudsen Corp.
MSG includes Shell, Unocal, ARCO and Texaco.

     The 22-acre McColl Superfund site was used during the early
forties as a waste disposal facility.  Waste sludge, a highly
acidic by-product of oil refinery operations, was dumped at the
site.  Over the years the waste was covered by oil drilling muds
and top soils.  The 12 sumps are filled with nearly 100,000 cubic
yards of highly acidic sludge and soils.  The waste periodically
seeps to the surface through fissures in the covering.

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