LINCOLN — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ordered another round of soil testing after low levels of PCBs were found at a new development along Choccolocco Creek.Lisa Coghlan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District, said Wednesday the Corps’ “cease and desist” order remains in effect for work along Choccolocco Creek in the new Lake Point residential development in Lincoln.
Coghlan said the Corps of Engineers is also requiring more soil tests because PCBs were found in soil samples collected weeks ago by an independent Environmental Protection Agency approved company.
“We’re going to require another study,” she said, adding that additional soil testing is a precautionary measure.
Coghlan said soil, which tested positive for PCB, must be removed and stored in an “upland disposal site,” a dry area away from the water, usually behind a dike.
The Corps of Engineers stopped shoreline work because of concerns of PCB contamination, and the company failed to obtain proper permits for shoreline work, officials said.
Developers said they obtained a permit for the shoreline work from Alabama Power Company. An Alabama Power spokesman said APC never issued a permit for any work at Lake Point.
Officials with the Corps of Engineers halted shoreline work by Lake Point developers after the company allegedly dredged along the shoreline of Choccolocco Creek.
The area dredged by Lake Point developers is part of a 48-mile area from Calhoun County to Logan Martin Lake that state and federal environmental experts say was exposed to PCBs.
PCBs, once used as electrical insulation, are a possible carcinogen, and because of high levels in fish samples taken from Choccolocco Creek, the public is warned not to eat fish caught there.
Solutia Corporation, formerly Monsanto Company, dumped PCBs, also known as polychlorinated biphenyls, onto the ground and into water until PCBs were banned in the United States in 1979. Through Snow and Choccolocco creeks, PCBs from the Anniston plant found their way as far west as Logan Martin Lake.
Pam Scully, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency remedial project manager for the Anniston PCB site cleanup, said she received soil analysis from samples taken from the Lake Point residential development, and PCB levels were below 1 ppm (parts per million).
“There was one sample at .93 (ppm), which was close,” Scully said.
She said if higher concentrations of PCBs are found in soil samples, developers could get caught up in a costly cleanup.
Scully said the Corps of Engineers is requiring developers to do additional testing along the bank, where they allegedly dredged soil with possible PCB contaminates.
She said the PCB contaminated soil, which is now out of the water, needs to be disposed of on land, not put back into the creek.
Scully said because PCB levels found in the soil are less than 1ppm, the soil could be placed within the subdivision and covered with other dirt.
She said only one pile of dirt, next to the canal developers dredged, was tested for PCBs.
Officials said there is no evidence dredging along the property had any environmental impact along or in Choccolocco Creek.
Jerome Hand, public relations director for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, pointed out there is already a no consumption advisory for fish in Choccolocco Creek because of PCBs.
He said the last time ADEM collected fish samples from Choccolocco Creek was in the fall of 2005.
Hand said ADEM will not collect any fish samples from Choccolocco Creek until 2009, unless the State Department of Health requests earlier testing based on health concerns.
However, Scully said Solutia is required to collect fish samples regularly along Choccolocco Creek and submit results to ADEM and to the EPA.
Gary Steed, one of the owners of the residential development off Rushing Springs Road, said Wednesday night he is relieved test results show the soil is safe, and concentrations of PCBs in the soil measure below 1 ppm.
“That’s good for us,” he said.
Steed said they will remove the soil before the lake level is raised by Alabama Power. He said they have three or four spots they can move the dirt to, out of the flood plain. He said what they do with the dirt will depend on what EPA officials want them to do with it.
“We’re going to get that dirt out,” Steed said.
He said he was told by officials it is unlikely higher concentrations of PCBs will be found along the banks of the property.
“But I want it all checked out,” he said. “I want to clear this all up, once and for all.”
