The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) plans to clean up the site of a used oil transport business in Trussville that is no longer in operation, the Department announced Thursday.
On Feb. 1, ADEM notified Alabama Oil and Gas Recovery Inc. it was in violation of several environmental regulations and gave the business a required 30 days to respond with details on what actions it would take to address the violations. The business did not submit such a plan, so ADEM is planning to move forward with removing waste materials remaining at the facility and addressing any impacted soils.
“It’s disappointing the property owner was unable to develop and execute a cleanup and closure plan, but ADEM will take action to ensure the site is properly cleaned up,” said ADEM Director Lance LeFleur.
Initial funding for the cleanup will come from the Alabama Hazardous Substances Cleanup Fund. However, ADEM will seek reimbursement of the cost from the property owner.
Before cleanup funds can be used for any project, ADEM must follow a well-defined process that includes, among other things, trying to identify all potentially liable parties, ordering the potentially liable parties to develop a cleanup plan to be implemented within a reasonable time, and providing a 30-day public comment period on the plan unless such delay would significantly increase the threat to human health or the environment.
The department is also required to issue a request for proposals (RFP) from companies to perform the cleanup work.
ADEM personnel inspected the site at 2400 Blackjack Road on Jan. 24. The notice of violation stated the former business did not properly close the tank systems and container storage area, and failed to remove or decontaminate containment systems, contaminated soils, structures and equipment.
