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Gretna Plating and Polishing

 
Site Contact:
Mike McAteer
OSC

(mcateer.mike@epa.gov)

Site Location:
725 Carricox
Gretna, LA 70053
 epaosc.org/GretnaPlating

On 03 August 2015, at approximately 0900, Gretna Plating and Polishing Company experienced a fire at its facility in Gretna, Louisiana. The fire department responded and extinguished the fire at approximately 1200. The owner of the facility confirmed that an unknown amount of chromium and nickle plating solutions may have been lost during the fire. Due to the large amount of firefighting water used to extinguish the fire, an unknown amount of potentially contaminated water was released on property surrounding the facility as well to a nearby drainage ditch located in front of the building. The fire department used sandbags to berm off the drainage ditches to prevent any further impact into neighboring residential properties.

On 04 August 2015, the EPA OSC, USCG, LDEQ, LA State Police, and Jefferson Parish Fire Department HAZMAT met to coordinate site response actions.

EPA is providing the FOSC and is directing reponse operations at the facility. Assessment teams are conducting sampling activities on impacted properties surrounding the site to determine if off-site contamination exists.


Front view of Gretna Plating and Polishing Facility View inside facility from south warehouse door. Vat area located in NW corner of facility View of vat and chemical container located in Gretna Plating Facility View of nickel chloride solution spill. EPA Team conducting air monitoring inside facility. View of residential property north of Gretna Plating. View of residential property north of Gretna Plating facility View of southern side of facility. Wooden structure used as storage. Not damaged during fire. View of the back of facility (west side) View of wooden framed vats. Note - green hose used to transfer contents. ERRS transferring material from Vat V1 to poly drum. EPA Team deconing soil sampling equipment. View of front of facility after ERRS contractor has covered/secured open areas. Rear view of facility after ERRS contractor has covered/secured open areas. Soil sampling/geoprobe activities north of facility at adjacent residential property Sample processing Soil sampling/geoprobe activities on site in west area of property Repaired fencing along northern property boundary. ERRS crew vacuuming and cleaning up free liquids on floor. View of floor area after cleanup. Berm area along north side of building adjacent to vat area. Facility floor cleanup and prepped. Access way cleared at rear door. ERRS crew closing/securing warehouse entry way. View of west side (rear) of facility View of west side (rear) of facility View of security fence. View of security fence. West side of the abandoned plating facility post-Hurricane Ida; before fencing was complete East side of the abandoned plating facility post-Hurricane Ida; before fencing Missing portion of the wall on the East side of the facility post-Hurricane Ida Missing portion of the wall on the West side of the plating facility post-Hurricane Ida Crew working to secure access to the facility on the East side. Secondary storage shed on the south side of the plating facility Inside view of the secondary storage shed on the south side of the facility Inside view of the main plating facility Working crew installing fencing to restrict access to the property. Installed fencing to secure access to the property. Installed fencing to restrict access on the west side of the facility. Boomed off sewage drain on the east side of the property East side of the facility post-fencing installation. Small containers removed from main building. Beginning of removal operation. Materials staged for lab packing Sampling for hazardous waste profiling. Unloading lab pack supplies. Small containers staged in building 2. Containers staged in building 1. Technicians loading lab packs with small containers. Lab pack supplies Technicians loading lab packs Technicians pumping contents from vat located at the exterior of building 2. Building 2 contents removed. Contents of vat located at the exterior of building 1 removed Filled lab packs staged on property. Four salvage drums packed with small containers. Small containers removed from building 1. Small containers removed from building 1. Interior of building 1 after 10.08.21 operations. Loading empty vats into roll-off box. Vacuum unit, pump and cyclone. Crews utilizing vacuum unit to remove contaminated ash and debris. Crews utilizing vacuum unit to remove debris and ash from vat room. Vat room after completing vacuum operations. Polishing room after vacuum operations. Crew using vacuum to remove debris and ash outside of vat room. Crew conducting pressure washing operations in vat room. Vat room after pressure washing activities. Soil sample being extracted next to the secondary building (storage shed) Core concrete sample being extracted from the concrete slab within the abandoned plating and polishing shop building. Soil sample being extracted from underneath the concrete slab on the site.
For additional information, visit the Pollution/Situation Report (Pol/Sitreps) section.