EPA v. FARNAN FARM SITE

Case summary

1. SECTION 106(A) OF THE COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RE- SPONSE, COMPENSATION AND LIABILITY ACT ( CERCLA ), 42 U.S.C. SECTION 9606(A). 2. FARNAN FARM SITE PERSHING, ODAGE COUNTY, NEW MEXICO DEFENDANTS: CHARLES E. HALL WADE D. FARNAN 3. THE FARNAN FARM SITE IS LOCATED IN OR NEAR SECTION 6, RANGE 9 EAST, TOWNSHIP 24 NORTH, PERSHING, OSAGE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA. THE SITE WAS REPORTED TO EPA IN FEB. 1981, BY AN ANONYMOUS CITIZEN WHO WITNESSED THE BURIAL OF DRUMS ON THE SITE TWO OR THREE YEARS PRIOR TO REPORTING THE INCID- ENT. AN EPA REPRESENTATIVE INVESTIGATED AND ESTIMATED THAT APPROXIMATELY 40 TO 50 BARRELS WERE BURIED ON THE SITE. IN MAY 1982, EPA FIELD INVESTIGATION TEAM (FIT) PERFORMED A SITE SAMPLING INSPECTION, COLLECTING SAMPLES FROM THREE DRUMS. ACCORDING TO THE ANALYTICAL RESULTS, THE DRUMS CONTAINED THE HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES TOLUENE, CARBON AL- KANES, METHYLCYCLOPENTHANE, PYRENE, AND HEXAMETHYLCYCLO- TRISILOXANE. THESE ALL CONSTITUTE HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES AS DEFINED AT SECTION 101(14) OF CERCLA. THESE HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES ARE CONSTITUENTS OF PRINTING INK AND ASSOCIAT- ED PRINTING SOLVENTS, WHICH WERE THE ALLEGED CONTENTS OF THE DRUMS. THE EPA EMERGENCY RESPONSE BRANCH (ERB) AND THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TEAM (TAT) CONDUCTED A SITE ASSESSMENT IN APR. 1988. THE TAT PERFORMED METAL DETECTION AND PROTON MAG- NETOMETER SURVEYS TO DELINEATE THE APPROXIMATE PERIMETER OF THE DRUM BURIAL AREA. MAGNETOMETER DATA REVEALED A STRONG POSITIVE ANOMALY, SUGGESTING AN APPROXIMATE 8 X 40 FEET ZONE OF BURIAL METALLIC OBJECTS. A SHALLOW RANGE (0-12 INCH) METAL DETECTOR LOCATED TWO AREAS OF SUSPECTED BURIED METAL WITHIN THE ANOMALOUS MAGNETOMETER ZONE. ALTHOUGH THE EXISTENCE OF BURIED DRUMS CONTAINING HAZ- ARDOUS SUBSTANCES WERE SUBSTANTIATED AT THE SITE, THE ERB DID NOT PRIORITIZE THE SITE FOR A REMOVAL ACTION AT THAT TIME DUE TO THE APPARENT LACK OF IMMINENT AND SUBSTANIAL ENDANGERMENT CRITERIA. THE SITE IS LOCATED ON PRIVATE LAND IN A REMOTE LOCATION. THE INTEGRITY OF THE DRUM BUR- IAL AREA, LOCATED BETWEEN THE CONVERGENCE OF TWO INTER- MITTENT CREEKS, WAS CONSIDERED ADEQUATE AT THE TIME. AL- SO, THE ODEQ WAS ACTIVELY PURSUING ENFORCEMENT AND/OR STATE RESPONSE ACTION DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. THE EPA ON-SCENE-COORDINATOR (OSC) VISITED THE SITE AGAIN IN MAY 1992 AND FOUND SITE CONDITIONS WERE RELATIVELY UNCHANGED. ODEQ PERSONNEL VISITED THE SITE IN MAR. 1994 AND REPORTED THAT SITE CONDITIONS HAD DETERIORATED SIGNIFICANTLY. THE CUT BANK OF THE EASTERN INTERMITTENT CREEK, THROUGH CON- TINUOUS STREAM BANK EROSION, HAS NOW EXPOSED SEVERAL OF THE DRUMS IN THE BURIAL AREA. THESE DRUMS ARE IN DANGER OF DETERIORATING AND RELEASING THEIR CONTENTS DIRECTLY IN TO THE INTERMITTENT CREEK, A TRIBUTARY OF BIRCH CREEK AND SUBSEQUENTLY INTO BIRCH LAKE, A PUBLIC WATER SOURCE. HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES ARE PRESENTLY EXPOSED AT THE GROUND SURFACE INTERFACE WITH THE INTERMITTENT CREEK BANK. THE PROXIMITY OF THE DRUMS TO THE EROSIVE CUTBANK OF THE IN- TERMITTEN CREEK, COUPLED WITH DETERIORATED DRUM CONDI- TION, POSED A POTENTIAL CONTINUOUS THREATENED RELEASE OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. 4. RELIEF SOUGHT PURSUANT TO SECTION 106(A) OF CERCLA, EPA ISSUED A UNILATERAL ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER FOR REMOVAL RE- SPONSE ACTIVITIES, CERCLA 6-23-94, THAT REQUIRES THE RE- SPONDENTS, WADE D. FARNAN AND CHARLES E. HALL, TO PERFORM CERTAIN REMOVAL ACTIONS AT THE F

Defendants (2)

• CHARLES E. HALLNamed in complaint
• WADE D. FARNANNamed in complaint

Facilities (1)

• FARNAN FARM SITE

  7 MI SOUTH SW OF PERSHING, BARNSDALL, OK, 74002

  Registry ID: 110010761167

Statutes cited

• CERCLA 106A — Imminent & Substantial Endangerment Order

Timeline (3 milestones)

• 1994-09-30Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 1994-09-30Final Order Issued
• 1996-06-17Enforcement Action Data Entered