A Brownfield Success Story

A site located within DEP’s South District region that was contaminated with copper chromated arsenic (CCA) is on its way to become a productive location once again. The new owners, Garden Street Iron & Metal, are proposing uses that will not be affected by the contamination and will actually help clean up the site.

Retail lumber company Robbins Manufacturing Inc. previously used the property for treating lumber using copper chromated arsenic. CCA is a chemical wood preservative that makes lumber resistant to termites and microbial agents and is easy to paint or varnish. It has been in use since the 1940s, but in the last decade concerns were raised primarily about the arsenic -- a known human carcinogen. In 2003, in response to a request by the wood preservative pesticide producers, the Environmental Protection Agency signed an order restricting the use of CCA-treated wood for most residential applications.

The on-site CCA treatments occurring at Robbins Manufacturing resulted in significant contamination of soil and groundwater. When the company moved out of its Fort Myers location the remaining soil and groundwater levels of CCA could have resulted in the land remaining unsold and unusable had the company not been obligated to clean the site to industrial standards.

Under the guidance of DEP’s Environmental Manager Charles Emery, hazardous waste staff was able to have the area classified as a Brownfield site. Upon its classification it was purchased by scrap metal company, Garden Street Iron & Metal.

Garden Street now uses the contaminated groundwater in its auto shredder. Auto shredders, which are several thousand horsepower machines with several hardened steel blades, are used to reduce cars and other bulky metal items into smaller fragments, which can then be sorted magnetically. This process generates a lot of heat, dust and blue smoke. The contaminated groundwater is used to reduce the heat and the heat turns the contaminated water to steam, leaving the contaminants behind as salts and effectively cleaning the area.

“These types of ingenious solutions to waste management issues has been the result of strong leadership by District staff,” said Jon Iglehart, Director of District Management “We are fortunate to have such dedicated people working to save our environment.”