HEALTH CONSULTATION
CONRAIL-JACKSON YARD
JACKSON, MICHIGAN
The Conrail-Jackson Yard property, located in Jackson, Michigan, consists of a working railroad switching yard, rail-to-truck freight transfer operation, and warehouse operation. An historical record also exists of locomotive refueling in the switching yard. Most of the property is currently owned by the Consolidated Railroad Corporation (Conrail), although a small freight transfer and warehousing operation owns some buildings and property within it.
In 1985, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigated reports that fuel oil and solvents might have been spilled during operations on the property. These spills were suspected of causing contamination of groundwater in the area. An EPA contractor inspected the property in 1987, and found 77 drums, some of which were leaking, on the property. In 1997, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)1 conducted an Integrated Assessment of the property. The drums had been removed in the intervening decade.
Two apparently unrelated incidents of groundwater contamination have occurred near the property. Southwest of the property, a well field of the Jackson municipal water system has contained low concentrations of cis-1,2-dichloroethylene for approximately 15 years. The municipal water system's operating procedures have kept concentration of the chemical within safe tolerances in the finished water supply.
In the other unrelated incident, water from residential wells northeast of the property have contained various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) since 1993. Persons with the most severely affected wells have been provided with bottled water, and the municipal water supply is being extended into the area. Neither of these incidents has been connected to the Conrail-Jackson Yard.
EPA and MDEQ investigations of the property have not found soil contamination that poses any
apparent health hazard to workers on the property. The MDEQ found contamination with metals
and VOCs in groundwater under the property. No use of the shallow groundwater on or near the property is known.
BACKGROUND AND STATEMENT OF ISSUES
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has asked the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) to evaluate health risks associated with the Conrail-Jackson Yard property as part of their Integrated Assessment of the property.
The Conrail-Jackson Yard (CJY) property is located at 1111 South Elm Avenue in Jackson, Michigan (Figure 1). The property covers 112 acres and includes an active railroad yard, rail-to-truck transfer operation, and warehousing operation. In the past, railroads had refueled locomotives on the property. The railroad yard was formerly owned by the Penn Central Railroad and leased to the Michigan Central Railroad. When the Consolidated Railroad Corporation (Conrail) was formed April 1, 1976, it acquired many of the assets of the Penn Central Railroad, including the Jackson yard. Several buildings and a portion of the property are owned by the Miller Truck and Storage Company, which conducts a rail-to-truck transfer and warehousing business on the property.
In 1985, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) reported allegations to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that spills of fuel oil and solvents during operations in the rail yard might have resulted in contamination of the soil and groundwater. A contractor for the EPA inspected the property in July 1987. The contractor found 77 unmarked barrels on the property, some of which were leaking. They also collected 8 samples of surface soil from the property. Using the data collected, the contractors recommended that further hydrogeological investigation of the property be performed to determine whether it should be placed on EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) (1). No further response to the recommendation is recorded until 1997. During a preliminary MDEQ reconnaissance on January 14, 1997, no drums were visible on the property (2).
In April 1997, the MDEQ conducted field work for an Integrated assessment of the property, including collection of samples of surface soil, subsurface soil, and groundwater (3). On April 15, 1997, during the MDEQ field work, MDCH staff visited the property.
Between November 1993 and February 1996, water from approximately 26 private wells in the Frogtown neighborhood, northeast of the CJY property (see Figure 1), was found to contain traces of various volatile organic compounds. The concentrations found (Table 1) were generally below the EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for drinking water. The Michigan Department of Public Health (MDPH)/MDEQ2 has provided bottled water to residents of the area whose wells did contain contaminant concentrations above MCLs and has made arrangements for the extension of Jackson municipal water into the most heavily affected areas. Construction of the water main into the neighborhood began in late September 1997. MDEQ is monitoring residential wells on the perimeter of the area, where concentrations of the contaminants were much lower. The source(s) for this contamination has not been identified (4).
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