Benson, Ariz.-Apache Nitrogen Products has clean-up work well underway already at a Superfund site covered by a consent decree signed Dec. 17 between the company and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to EPA Region 9, Apache Nitrogen will continue to remove nitrate and perchlorate from groundwater and perform long-term groundwater monitoring at the Apache Powder Superfund Site near St. David at a cost of up to $5 million, plus an additional $1.2 million for past response costs on the part of the agency. Apache has been aware of the contamination since the 1990s, when samplings of nearby shallow wells showed nitrate levels above acceptable standards. Additional testing identified evaporation ponds, which had for decades collected cooling tower blowdown and process waste water, as a source. Apache first drilled new deep wells to assure nearby residents a reliable source of good water. In 1994, a $5 million brine concentrator plant was installed to recycle all waste water. The next priority was removal of excess nitrates from the groundwater by means of a wetland system that pumps water from the ground and processes it through a series of five shallow ponds. Then, under a unilateral administrative order, Apache completed the design and construction of a clean-up system for groundwater and soil contamination, and shortly after began long-term operations and maintenance, including ongoing monitoring of the groundwater cleanup’s effectiveness. Apache began operations in 1922 as a manufacturer of industrial chemicals and explosives, and continues operations today. EPA identified the Apache Powder Site as an environmental problem in the early 1980’s, and placed it on the National Priorities List in 1990.
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