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4b <br /> UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <br /> REGION IX <br /> tir'It PA01 75 Hawthorne Street O , <br /> San Francisco, CA 94105-3901 "N APR 12 1993 <br /> AL HEALTH <br /> MEMORANDUM TO FILE PERMI'V'"NMENTT/SERVICES <br /> DATE: April 2, 1993 <br /> FROM: Marie Lacey <br /> RE: Spill at McCormick & Baxter site <br /> The purpose of this memorandum is to document a spill that was <br /> discovered at the McCormick and Baxter (M&B) site in Stockton, <br /> California on Thursday, April 1, 1993 . Trench excavation and soil <br /> sampling for the remedial investigation was conducted at the site <br /> by EPA's contractor beginning on Tuesday, March 30. During <br /> excavation of a trench in the southwestern portion of the property <br /> on Wednesday, March 31, an electrical conduit was inadvertently <br /> cut. <br /> The line was not marked on the site operations utility map and was <br /> not believed to be in use, so no action was taken and the <br /> excavation continued. At the time EPA personnel left the site at <br /> approximately 6: 00 pm Wednesday evening, no problem was evident. <br /> At approximately 7: 00 am Thursday, EPA personnel arrived to learn <br /> from the site maintenance worker that the electrical line cut on <br /> Wednesday afternoon ran to the plant effluent pump station near the <br /> facility entrance on Washington Street. Although no stormwater <br /> pond effluent was being pumped, the two extraction well pumps <br /> continued to operate and effluent from the two wells ponded in the <br /> area of the pump station. <br /> At the time the spill was discovered by the site maintenance worker <br /> at approximately 7: 00 am, the water extended offsite as far as the <br /> first set of railroad tracks beyond the fenceline (noted on <br /> attached site map) . EPA personnel noted a slight sheen on the few <br /> inches of water remaining on the track and an odor of creosote. <br /> Because of rain during the night, the effluent would have been <br /> diluted to some extent. The ponded water was quickly draining into <br /> the railroad gravel backfill. <br /> The site maintenance worker notified the City of Stockton Regional <br /> Wastewater Control Facility. Richard Steffler from the Municipal <br /> Utilities Department visited the site and determined that the spill <br /> had not reached the city storm drain system. EPA personnel <br /> determined that the spill was within the area of the off-site <br /> groundwater contamination plume in the shallow aquifer. <br /> Printed on Recycled Paper <br />