EPA RCRA ID: MDD000737395
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. Corrective action is a requirement under RCRA that facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes, or did so in the past, investigate and clean up hazardous releases into soil, groundwater, surface water and air. For more information, and for more information on RCRA-specific terms used on this page, please visit EPA’s umbrella RCRA web page or EPA’s RCRA Corrective Action page.
On this page:
- Cleanup Activities
- Facility Description
- Institutional/Engineering Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Activities
On May 30, 2014, EPA issued a Statement of Basis (SB) in which EPA proposed a remedy for the Facility. EPA held a thirty (30)-day public comment period which began on May 30, 2014 and ended on June 29, 2014. The only comments EPA received during the public comment period were submitted by the Safety Kleen and the owner, BDC Spectrum LLC.
The Final Decision and Response to Comments (FDRTC) for the Facility was issued on November 21, 2014, which consisted of land use controls, vapor intrusion controls and groundwater monitoring as the remedy for the site.
A Consent Order and Agreement was issued on September 30, 2015 which required Safety-Kleen to implement the FDRTC.
The Vapor Intrusion Remediation System installation at the Facility was completed on February 25-27, 2016. The Vapor Intrusion Remediation System is an active depressurization system which creates a pressure differential across the concrete slab of the building to limit the potential for subsurface vapors from entering the building.
On November 16,2021, the EPA conducted a Long Term Stewardship assessment to assess whether the remedy was implemented and protective of human health and the environment. EPA determined that the remedy institutional and engineering controls have been fully implemented and no control deficiencies were identified.
Cleanup History
The Safety Kleen Silver Spring Maryland Service Center began operation in 1982 and was closed and decommissioned in April 1996. The former service center consisted of approximately 10,300 square feet which was used as an accumulation point for spent solvents and other fluids generated by Safety Kleen customers. All wastes stored at the site were ultimately shipped to an off-site Safety Kleen recycle center or a contract reclaimer. Previously, two 12,000 gallon underground storage tanks (USTs) were used at the site: one tank was used to store spent parts washer solvents and the other tank stored product (mineral spirits based solvent). Two loading units were used to transfer waste parts washer solvent to the underground storage tanks. There were also two areas designated for container storage.
The USTs were removed in April 1996, when the entire site was decommissioned. During the removal activities, soil was excavated from the tank pit and confirmatory soil samples were taken from the walls and floor of the excavation and along the trench containing the pipes running from the return and fill station to the tanks. The results from these samples detected total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) as mineral spirits and a number of volatile organic compounds in the soil. Groundwater monitoring at this site has been on-going since July 1989 and have historically shown detections of TPH, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and some volatile organic compounds. Based on these findings, the former tank pit area, former return and fill station area, and the former piping trench were the focus of remedial efforts at the site.
Safety Kleen has operated a Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) system at the site since August 1993. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) issued a Post Closure Permit for the area in February 2001, which includes remediation goals and requirements for the cleanup of the groundwater and soil. The contaminant concentrations in groundwater have shown an overall decreasing trend over the past several years, although there have been some fluctuations from the overall trend. The concentrations of a number of contaminants have already dropped, and remained, below the cleanup objective levels specified by the post-closure care permit. However, TPH concentrations, although significantly reduced, still remain above the permit-prescribed level.
The SVE system recovery rate had diminished to zero asymptotically. An attempt was made to recover additional contaminants by operating the system in a pulsing mode by turning it off for a period of time and then on again. However, no significant additional recoveries were attained and the system was shut down during 2011.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The Safety Kleen Silver Spring former service center was located in an industrial park and the surrounding area is zoned for light industrial use. The facility was in operation from 1982 to 1996, when it was decommissioned. The site is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, Montgomery County, approximately 500 feet south of the intersection of Tech Road and U.S. Highway 29 (Columbia Pike). The former service center has been redeveloped and now houses a bank and other businesses in the former warehouse buildings.
RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility are being conducted under the direction of MDE. The investigation and cleanup are being implemented in accordance with the State Post Closure Permit, effective February 1, 2001.
The main contaminants in the groundwater and soil were total petroleum hydrocarbons, BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) and a number of volatile organic compounds.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls for the facility include:
- Groundwater at the Facility shall not be used for any purpose other than the operation, maintenance, and monitoring activities required by MDE and/or EPA.
- No new wells shall be installed on Facility property.
- A vapor intrusion control system, the design of which shall be approved advance by EPA, shall be installed in each current and new structure constructed at the facility unless it is demonstrated to EPA that vapor intrusion does not pose a threat to human health and EPA provides prior written approval.
- Current owner/ operator shall submit an annual written to EPA documenting; (1) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the remedy reducing contaminant concentrations and restoring groundwater to MCLs or background concentrations and (2) that the use restrictions are in place and effective.
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
||
|
Governmental Controls (GC) |
|||
|
Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
|||
| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | |||
|
Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
||
|
Non-Groundwater |
|||
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.