Potassium permanganate is mixed by an employee of Symbiont Science, Engineering & Construction.
throughout the years, including Carl “Doc” Severinsen of
“The Tonight Show.”
Metal finishing processes conducted at the facility
included electroplating, acid treating, degreasing, spray
coating, and polishing. Plating operations involved
silver, copper strike, nickel, chrome, and potash base
electroplating. These processes required the use of heavy
metals, acid and cyanide solutions, and chlorinated
solvents.
Ayres Associates was initially hired by the City of
Elkhorn to secure funding and complete an environmental
investigation at the site to determine the need for
remediation before site redevelopment.
City Administrator Sam Tapson said cleaning up the
Getzen property and the adjacent Elkhorn Metal Finishers
site has been a long but worthwhile process. “At the end
of the day, it gets rid of an eyesore or two,” he said. “It
certainly stabilizes the site.”
Because of the high level of contamination at the site,
the WDNR was enlisted to provide additional funding
for remediation. The WDNR subsequently maintained
ownership of the project and retained Ayres Associates as
its consultant.
Jeffrey Steiner, project manager for Ayres Associates,
confirmed that this was no ordinary remediation. “The
concentrations of chlorinated volatile organic compounds
(CVOCs) in soil and groundwater were the highest I have
ever encountered in my career,” said Steiner, who has
almost three decades of experience as a hydrogeologist.
Ayres Associates prepared grant applications
and successfully secured brownfield grants from the
Wisconsin Department of Commerce for investigating
and redeveloping the property and obtained a Local
Government Unit exemption from environmental liability
for the City. Grant awards and matching funds exceeded
$1 million. An intergovernmental agreement between
the City and the WDNR was finalized so the City could
potentially obtain additional funds for site remediation.
Investigating the Site
State-of-the-art and cost-effective investigation
techniques were used at the Getzen and Elkhorn Metal
Finishers sites to help define groundwater flow patterns
and measure the extent of contamination in the aquifer.
Ayres Associates was the first firm in Wisconsin to use a
multi-level sampler approach using continuous channel
TRENDS
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