Background/ History
The St. Louis Ship site is located on 27.5 acres at 611 E. Marceau St. in St. Louis. From 1933 to 1984, the site was used build and repair steel barges and repair tugboats. The facility stopped operating in 1984 and parts of the site were sold to various entities several years later. Although exact dates of the sales are unknown, they occurred before 1989. The facility was divided into an eastern and western yard by the Missouri Pacific Railroad right-of-way. The eastern yard covered approximately 10 acres and was used for construction and assembly, river repairs and a craft shop operation. The western yard covered approximately 17.5 acres and housed the administrative offices, a warehouse and storage yard, and some maintenance shops. The New World Pasta Co. acquired part of the site in 2001 and the remaining area (eastern yard) was purchased by the Louisiana Dock Co. in 2006.
The facility used sulfuric acid and trichlorotrifluoroethane to flush cooling systems on towboats. A variety of hazardous wastes were produced as part of the facility operations, including degreasing and flushing solvents, petroleum naphtha and paint sludges associated with the fabrication and repair operations. St. Louis Ship stored the hazardous waste in a hazardous waste storage area located on the northwestern corner of the western yard before shipping off-site for disposal. St. Louis Ship operated the hazardous waste storage area under the “interim status” portions of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Cleanup Summary
St. Louis Ship conducted an investigation of the hazardous waste storage area in 1987/1988, which indicated possible soil contaminated with heavy metals, total organic carbon and possibly organic constituents in this area. St. Louis Ship removed the soil and backfilled with gravel/crushed limestone. St. Louis Ship closed the hazardous waste storage area in February 1989. The department accepted St. Louis Ship’s closure certification for the hazardous waste management units in March 1989. St. Louis Ship is not subject to the permitting requirements of the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Law or federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments for post-closure care because they “clean closed” the interim status hazardous waste areas.
St. Louis Ship is subject to corrective action because they completed closure of the interim status hazardous waste areas after the effective date of the federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments. In 1986, a welding/storage building in the northeast corner of the site caught fire, covering the area with ash and rubble contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls from fallen transformers and lead from stored paints. St. Louis Ship remediated the area in 1989. Initial investigations identified several additional areas that required further investigation. St. Louis Ship is currently a candidate for an administrative order or Letter of Agreement to investigate and possibly remediate the areas identified at the site.
