COMPLIANCE INFO_PRE 2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

CLEANUP AND ABATEMENT ORM Z5-2008-0710 -5- HJ BAKER & BRO INC AND THE PORT OF STOCKTON MOLTEN SULFUR PROCESSING PLANT, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY Location/Source and Date EC (umhos/cm) pH (SU) Across the road from entrance gate to Site (February 1998) 760 3.0 Runoff from gate to road (February 1998) 3,860 2.0 South drainage ditch (June 2005) 3,500 N/R Groundwater pumped from the sulfur conveyor tunnel (March 2005) 3,200 2.6' Storm water sump discharge into the storm water system (March 2005) 2,300 5.6 Comparison values 200a 900-2,200b 6.5 - 8.5 c Notes: BOLD lettering indicates the concentration exceeds a comparison value. EC means electrical conductivity. NR indicates not reported. a Central Valley Water Board indicator value that there may be a lack of or inadequate Best Management Practices installed at the facility b California Secondary MCL. C USEPA Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level, USEPA Parameter Benchmark Value, and Basin Plan III-5.0. On 27 November 2006, staff performed a follow-up inspection and photographed an employee cleaning sulfur drift off of Stork Road at a location contiguous to, and outside Baker's property. Staff observed that stockpiles extended above the netting/wind break. However, staff was not able to determine if the sulfur fines were tracked out of the Clay Pit by heavy equipment or migrated outside the Clay Pit by other mechanisms. Nevertheless, sulfur had escaped from the facility boundary. On 25 August 2008, Central Valley Water Board staff inspected the facility and observed vehicular tracks of fine particulate prill that extended out from the Clay Pit and lead south down Stork Road. In addition, Central Valley Water Board staff noted and photographed deteriorated sections of the asphalt within the Clay Pit. Based on the site inspections, Environmental Site Assessment data, and field test results, the low pH and high electrical conductivity are significantly greater than what would be expected from non-sulfur impacted stormwater. These results indicate that the operations have impacted surface water and are a threat to groundwater. During the rainy season, sulfur-contact water is allowed to remain on the deteriorated asphalt in unregulated ponded areas at the Clay Pit. Baker evaporates and/or reuses the sulfur-contact water in the production of prill. Staff notes that in the month of January 2008, 5 VI—inches of rain fell in the Stockton area 3. Based on the aerial extent of the Clay Pit (3.8-acres) and depth of rainfall (5 'A n c hes), the calculated volume of sulfur-contact water is over 500,000-gallons. That is, the Clay Pit could generate over 500,000 gallons of sulfur-contact water in one month of one rainy season. Coupled with the compromised asphalt and depth of sulfur-contact water, staff notes that these ponding, storage, and evaporation operations are a mechanism by which sulfur- contact water percolates through the degraded asphalt into the ground. Thus, any Western Regional Climate Center, Stockton Airport. January 2008