This is a SOURCES SOUGHT for the purpose of obtaining market research only. NO PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED NOR ACCEPTED UNDER THIS SOURCES SOUGHT. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, will use information obtained under this sources sought to develop an acquisition strategy to meet requirements for the Standard Chlorine of DE Remediation Services New Castle County, DE.
Title: Standard Chlorine of DE Remediation Services
Statement of Objectives: Market research is being conducted to determine contractor capabilities for remediation services required to remove and remediate on-site chemically contaminated soil and saturated sediment at the Superfund Site.
NAICS: 562910
Scope of Work
Site Location
The Site is located on Governor Lea Road in a heavily industrialized area in New Castle County, Delaware. The Site is located approximately three miles northwest of Delaware City, Delaware, west of Route 9 (River Road) and south of Red Lion Creek. The Site covers approximately 145 acres of mixed developed and undeveloped upland areas and wetland, including a 23-acre fenced area that is the former location of a chlorobenzene manufacturing plant (Plant) that was owned and operated by Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc. (SCD) until December 1998, and then by Mitchem Products, LLC (Metachem) until 2002. The total property (Property) that was owned by SCD and Meacham is roughly 63 acres and includes the 23 acres where the former Plant was situated, a grass covered upland area and wooded steep slopes to the north, and portions of wetland.
History of Contamination and Response Actions
The Plant manufactured chlorobenzenes from 1966 to 2002 by combining chlorine and benzene, reacting, and then distilling them at high temperature, and preparing and storing them onsite prior to sale. Some of the chlorobenzenes were stored in heated steel aboveground storage tanks (AST). Leakage from pipes and ASTs throughout the Plant drained to Catch Basin #1. A crack in the concrete base of Catch Basin #1 was discovered and repaired in March 1976. The crack resulted in chlorobenzenes leaking into the subsurface soil for an unknown period of time.
The objectives of the initial RI, completed in 1992, were to characterize Site conditions, determine the nature and extent of contamination, and assess risks to human health and the environment related to the soils. This initial RI concluded there is a large quantity of dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) in the soils of the vadose zone (the zone of unsaturated soils above the water table) and the saturated zones beneath the former Plant. For many years this DNAPL was the source of the plume of dissolved phase chlorobenzenes originating beneath the Plant and flowing northward in the Columbia Aquifer until it discharged into Red Lion Creek and the surrounding wetland. This discharge was largely cut off by EPA’s installation of a subsurface barrier wall in 2007 as part of the OU1 Interim Groundwater Remedy.
Based on the conclusions of the 1992 RI and the 1993 Feasibility Study (FS), EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Site on March 9, 1995. The 1995 ROD did not identify OUs. Subsequently, EPA designated separate OUs at the Site to make the cleanup more manageable. The OUs at the Site are as follows:
- OU1: Interim action for groundwater. This remedy is constructed and is being operated by EPA. The interim action for groundwater will be continued until a final groundwater remedy (OU4) is selected.
- OU2: Final action for spill pathway soil and sediment. OU2 is this SOW.
- OU3: Former Plant area. This remedy has been constructed and is being maintained by DNREC.
- OU4: Final action for groundwater. The future remedy will address both the Columbia aquifer and underlying Potomac aquifer.
The contaminants of concern (COCs) identified in the 1995 ROD included benzene, numerous different chlorobenzene compounds, and toluene. Subsequent investigations have identified polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), metachloronitrobenzene, dioxins, and various other organic compounds and metals as Site-related contaminants, but these compounds were not identified as COCs in the 1995 ROD.
A ROD Amendment for OU2 was issued in 2022 and addressed only the remaining components of the OU2 spill pathway soils and sediments including the western drainage gully, soils underlying where the waste pile soils were originally staged, and soils and sediments along the unnamed tributary to Red Lion Creek (i.e., the wetland), as well as spill-impacted sediment along a portion of Red Lion Creek.
The revised remedial action objectives (RAOs) for OU2 based on the 2022 ROD are:
- Remedial Action Objectives for Human Health
- Prevent exposure via inhalation, ingestion, and/or dermal exposure to soil, sediment, and fish tissue with COCs representing an excess cancer risk of greater than lxl 0-4 and a non-cancer risk of greater than an HI of 1 for current and future land use.
- Remedial Action Objective for Environmental Protection
- Reduce unacceptable risks to acceptable levels to ecological receptors exposed to Site-related soil and sediment contamination.
- Remedial Action Objective for Limiting Further Migration of Contaminants
- Minimize migration of contamination via any of the following major migration pathways:
- DNAPL to groundwater
- Soil to groundwater and surface water; and
- Sediment to groundwater and surface water.
Remedial Action/Scope of Work
The 2022 ROD for the Site calls for excavation of contaminated soil and treatment on-site using Low Temperature Thermal Desorption (LTTD). Treated material will be tested to ensure the achievement of remedial goals as defined in the ROD. Treated material will be used to backfill the areas that were excavated. In the wetland, the final 0.61 meters (approximate) of backfill material will be blended with organic matter and bioaugmented granular activated carbon (GAC). This bioaugmented GAC will include the addition of microbes that are capable of degrading the organic contaminants present in groundwater. If concentrations of metals in this upper layer are detected at concentrations that exceed ecotoxicity concentrations, the material shall be blended with a metal stabilization agent. Creating a bioreactive zone on the surface of the wetland will provide for long term permanence of the remedy via bioremediation of residual contamination from upwelling groundwater.
The selected remedy combines elements of the originally selected remedy, bioremediation, with the contingent remedy, Low Temperature Thermal Desorption (LTTD). It specifies the depth of excavation for shallow sediment and addresses principal threat waste in the wetland to depths practicable. The selected remedy also addresses potential metals toxicity in wetland sediment by adding a stabilization agent after treatment via LTTD.
- Remove and treat contaminated soil and sediment on-site using LTTD. Contaminated soil in the western drainage gully and the area where the waste pile soils were staged will be excavated to a depth of 7 feet below ground surface, treated, and backfilled.
- Soil/Sediment Dewatering before thermal treatment.
- Contaminated shallow sediment (considered the upper two feet of sediment) in the wetland will be removed and treated on-site using LTTD.
- Deeper sediment and saturated material indicative of principal threat waste will be excavated to the extent practicable and treated on-site using LTTD.
- Treated sediment with concentrations of metals that may present an ecological risk will be mixed with a stabilization agent.
- It is estimated a total of 108,000 cubic yards of material will be excavated and treated as part of this remedy. This remedy assumes that 5% of the total amount of excavated material cannot be sufficiently treated and will require off-site treatment and disposal.
- Following confirmation of achieving treatment goals, treated material will be used to backfill areas that were excavated. Clean imported organic matter will be blended with treated material. The upper two feet of treated sediment will also be blended with granular activated carbon and a sand/chitin mix to create a bioreactive zone. This bioreactive zone will support vegetation and allow for enhanced bioaugmentation to take place in the event contaminated groundwater continues to discharge to the wetland.
- Wetland restoration will include revegetation using native species and long-term monitoring.
- Institutional Controls (IC)s in the form of land use restrictions will be necessary. ICs will include use, access, and deed restrictions for those parcels where Site-related soil and sediment contamination are located.
The estimated duration of the project is 5 years.The contract ordering period of performance is five years. The total contract capacity will not exceed $150,000,000.00.
For more information on Site background and the Selected Remedy for OU2, please refer to the 2022 ROD Amendment in the link: Standard Chlorine OU2 ROD Amendment (https://semspub.epa.gov/src/document/03/2335747)
Experience Needed
Capability statements shall address the following items to demonstrate the Contractor’s capability to perform the requirements of the Scope of Work:
- The contractor’s ability to manage, as prime contractor, the types and magnitude of tasking described in the Scope of Work.
- The contractor’s technical ability to perform at least 50% of the cost of the contract incurred for personnel with its own employees.
- The contractor’s capacity to conduct the requirements of the Scope of Work. At minimum, 2 completed projects (costing a minimum of 20 million dollars that include sampling, dewatering excavated sediment, transportation and disposal, odor and vapor emission controls, real time air monitoring, bioremediation, on-site Low Temperature Thermal Desorption, wetland restoration, contaminated groundwater treatment) completed in the last 5 years to demonstrate capacity and technical ability of the offeror to perform this work.
- Experience with Superfund and/or CERCLA remedial actions.
- Experience with sites with dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) and contaminants listed in the ROD
- Experience with site work conducted in personal protective equipment including respiratory protection, coffer dam construction, installation of sheet piling.
- Experience with cost reimbursable type contracts and associated accounting system requirements for cost reimbursement contracts in accordance with DFARS 252.242-7006 and DFARS 242.75.
Contractor shall provide overview of these past projects including volume of remediation services completed/disposed of and transported; detailed experience with Superfund or similar site containing high levels of chemical contamination; detailed experience with excavation Contractors, AE Contractors, LTTD Contractors, transportation and disposal Contractors, detailed CERCLA process experience, and detailed site Health and Safety Programs experience.
Sources Sought submission shall be no more than 10 pages in length.
Responses are due on 22 March 2024 by 3PM to Tiffany Chisholm via email at tiffany.z.chisholm@usace.army.mil and Ms. Cherita Williams (cherita.l.williams@usace.army.mil)
