NOTIFICATION OF COMMENT PERIOD AND THE RE-OPENING OF THE RECORD REGARDING THE FINAL PLAN OF REMEDIAL ACTION FOR THE DUPONT HAY ROAD SLUDGE DRYING “IRON RICH” SITE (A/K/A HAY STREET SLUDGE DRYING SITE)  (DE- 0024)

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) announces the re-opening of the existing public hearing record regarding the Final Plan of Remedial Action (Final Plan) for the DuPont Hay Road Sludge Drying “Iron Rich” Site (Site), which DNREC issued pursuant to Secretary’s Order No. 2009-A-005 (Secretary’s Order), dated January 16, 2009. 

The Secretary’s Order was the result of three public hearings that DNREC held on March 2, 3 and 9, 2005.  Following extensive public comments at the three public hearings, it was recommended that an independent study was necessary.  Schnabel Engineering North LLC performed the independent study, dated December 20, 2006 (Schnabel Report). The Schnabel Report recommended that additional sampling and testing was necessary. Additional sampling and testing resulted in the Addendum to the Remedial Investigation/Remedial Action Report, which DNREC approved on December 18, 2008. 

On January 25, 2009, DNREC advertised the issuance of the Secretary’s Order which adopted the Final Plan of Remedial Action for the Site, and on February 13, 2009, Appellants, Clean Air Council, Stephen Tindall, and John Flaherty, filed an appeal with the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), known as Clean Air Council et al v. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, EAB Appeal No. 2009-03. 

On September 17, 2009,  DNREC and Appellants reached a settlement of Appellants’ EAB appeal which provides that the public hearing record will be re-opened for thirty (30) days to allow for the eight (8) documents cited in Appellants’ EAB appeal to be reintroduced into the public hearing record.  During the thirty (30) day re-opening of the public hearing record, members of the public can comment on the eight (8) documents, and may also submit to DNREC-SIRB for inclusion into the public hearing record other documents or evidence which are relevant to the eight (8) documents, or issues raised by the eight (8) documents. 

The eight (8) additional documents to be included in the public hearing record are:


(1) DuPont’s work plan for supplemental investigation, submitted on August 13, 2007;
(2) DuPont’s Draft Remedial Investigation/Risk Assessment (“RI/RA”) Addendum submitted on September 8, 2008;
(3) A review of the RI/RA by the independent consultant submitted on November 5, 2008;
(4) DNREC’s Comments to DuPont on the Draft RI/RA Addendum on November 20, 2008;
(5) DuPont’s Final RI/RA Addendum submitted on December 8, 2008;
(6) DuPont’s Response Letter to the Department comments submitted on December 11, 2008;
(7) DNREC’s Site Investigation and Remediation Branch (SIRB) approval of the Addendum to the RI/RA on December 18, 2008; and
(8) SIRB’s Technical Response memorandum submitted to the Hearing Officer on January 14, 2009 and attached to the Hearing Officer’s Report.

The re-opening of the public hearing record will begin on October 5, 2009, and it will close on November 3, 2009 at 5:00 pm. Written comments, documents or other evidence to be included in the public hearing record should be submitted to Wilmer Reyes at the office of DNREC-SIRB, 391 Lukens Drive, New Castle, DE 19720, and such submissions must be received by DNREC-SIRB by November 3, 2009 at 5:00 pm.  A copy of the public hearing record and Site file is available at the office of DNREC-SIRB or by accessing DNREC-SIRB’s superfund site files database  at:  http://docs.dnrec.delaware.gov/sirbsitefiles.cfm.

Learn more about this Site by contacting the DNREC-SIRB Project Manager, Wilmer Reyes, at (302) 395-2600.