Public Health Assessment for Cooper Drum Company South Gates, Los Angeles County, California, EPA Facility ID: CAD055753370;Final rept

摘要

The California Department of Health Services (CDHS) has prepared this public health assessment for the Cooper Drum site under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The Cooper Drum site is located in South Gate, Los Angeles County, California and was used to recondition steel drums from 1948 to 2003. Operations ceased on the Cooper Drum site in August 2003. Site operations involved the handling of chemicals remaining in the used drums and the use of chemicals to clean and recondition the drums for re-sale, including sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid and paints. Soil, air, and groundwater have been impacted by volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), metals, polychlorinated bi-phenyls (PCBs), hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Currently, the site is approximately 95% paved and access to the site is limited by a chain-link fence and a gate. Contamination is on the site and, in some cases, off-site. In addition to contamination at the Cooper Drum site, a number of other contaminated industrial facilities exist in the immediate vicinity. CDHS identified three completed exposure pathways, four potentially completed pathways and eliminated four pathways from consideration at or near the Cooper Drum site. Currently, the site poses no apparent public health hazard. However, based on completed past exposure to contaminants in air and the potential future exposure to contaminated groundwater and soil, the Cooper Drum site is considered to be a Public Health Hazard. Based on the potential human health risks, CDHS recommends that USEPA consider installing a groundwater treatment system and implementing institutional controls to prevent future exposure to contaminants.