On 03 August 2015, at approximately 0900, Gretna Plating and Polishing Company experienced a fire at its facility in Gretna, Louisiana. The fire department responded and extinguished the fire at approximately 1200. The owner of the facility confirmed that an unknown amount of chromium and nickel plating solutions may have been lost during the fire. Due to the large amount of fire fighting water used to extinguish the fire, an unknown amount of potentially contaminated water was released on property surrounding the facility as well to a nearby drainage ditch located in front of the building. The fire department used sandbags to berm off the drainage ditches to prevent any further impact into neighboring residential properties. Representatives from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) contacted the US EPA requesting assistance with an electroplating facility, Gretna Plating and Polishing (GPP), which was partially destroyed in a fire. 

The facility is operated by RP and located at 725 Carricox St, Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

GPP electroplating consisted mainly of decorative chrome and nickel plating. Based on communications with the owner, GPP conducted the following operations as part of their electroplating process:

• Stripping items of dirt, oil, grease, and scale in muriatic acid
• Grinding and buffing items smooth prior to and during plating
• Pretreatment of items using sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid
• Nickel plating using nickel sulfate
• Chrome plating using chromic acid
• Electroplating wastewater treatment
• Generation and storage of hazardous waste

The site features include:

• The GPP operational area
• An area of undeveloped land

The GPP operational area encompasses an area approximately 0.25 acres and includes a 4,000 square feet (sqft) building and an adjacent 504 sqft building. The property’s east side is covered by pavement and the west side of the property as undeveloped land. GPP utilized the building for its operations and it consists of a prefabricated metal industrial manufacturing. The adjacent building is mainly used for storage and consists of a wooden barn type building. The main building is 40’x50’x12’ with a second floor loft designated for storage. The paved area contains two immovable vehicles and various debris from the Gretna Fire Department’s operations in controlling the fire. 

The site is located at 725 Carricox St., Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana within a residential area. The approximate center of the site is Latitude 29.932136˚ North and Longitude --90.047861˚ West.

The site poses an imminent threat to public health and the environment, which is associated with GPP electroplating operations. The threats include:

• The site is unsecured
• Portions of the facility are in poor condition due to the fire damage, where the outer walls were removed by the fire department, and doors were broken in or removed, which allows storm water to enter the facility and provides visually unrestricted public access
• The facility building houses numerous containers in good to failing conditions, as well as electroplating vats that contain hazardous substances, contaminates, and/or pollutants

The site’s contaminants of concern are, but not limited to, heavy metals, bases, oxidizers, and other constituents associated with the electroplating process.

The assessment identified a release, as well as threat of release of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminates at the GPP site as defined in Section 101(14) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. §9601(14) and 40 C.F.R. §302.4.

During the preliminary assessment the site was found to be unsecure and contain:

• The GPP facility building in fair to poor condition; structural damage to the roof and walls caused by the fire and facility operations
• Accumulated waste in numerous containers (drums, buckets, and jugs) in good to failing condition, plating vats and sumps, as well as on the floor and ground. Based on container labeling and discussions with the RP the accumulated waste likely includes hazardous waste such as strong acids, strong bases, oxidizers, flammables, and toxics

On 3 August 2015, EPA OSC Delgado conducted a preliminary assessment of the site along with a USCG representative, a Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) representative, a Louisiana State Police (LSP) representative, and Jefferson Parish Fire Department HAZMAT. Following the assessment,  EPA OSC Delgado activated and utilized the Superfund Technical Assistance Response Team (START3) to conduct a removal site evaluation. The EPA team conducted a visual site assessment including air monitoring inside the structure with a MultiRAE 5 gas meter and Chromatic Acid Draeger tubes. No detectable levels of airborne hazards were found. Fourteen vats of varying volumes and indiscernible contents were found in fair to poor condition. A perimeter site walk was conducted where areas on GPP property as well as adjacent properties were found to have been impacted by the fire suppression water used to put out the fire. These areas were sketched and plotted on a map. Additionally a survey of adjacent properties with potential impacts were noted and access agreements will be utilized as needed.

On 5 August 2015, the EPA OSC activated and utilized the Emergency Rapid Response Services (ERRS) contractors. The EPA team conducted further assessments of the adjacent properties and determined the potentially impacted areas were on site and to adjacent properties towards the north. The residence to the north, appears to have a large section of potentially impacted area. Grids were set up and 14 sample locations were identified. ERRS arrived on site and began staging drums and totes to transfer the contaminates from the vats for holding until a determination is made that they are either hazardous waste materials or product with value to the RP. ERRS was also tasked with securing the building’s openings to prevent unauthorized access and further contamination to the environment.  All electrochemical plating solutions (nickel/chromium) have been secured into drums and totes.

On 6 August 2015, the EPA ERRS contractor completed the transfer of liquid material within 4 vats into new stable containers.  Approximately 1000 gallons of liquid was transferred and stored in 1-250 gallon poly tote and 13-55 gallon drums.  The liquid material was removed from vats that were historically identified by the owner/operator as containing nickel and/or chrome plating solutions.  The ERRS contractor also began construction activities to cover/secure sections of the building that were open to the environment as a result of the fire.  The EPA Team also initiated soil sampling activities today to assess areas that received runoff of water used during the suppression of the fire.  The impacted areas surrounding the facility were gridded off and 5-point composite samples were collected to a depth of 2 feet from each grid.  Composite samples within each grid were collected from four intervals (0-6", 6-12", 12-18" & 18-24").