Site
visit:
Wipaire
8520
River
Road
Inver
Grove
Heights,
MN
55076­
3491
Participants:
Sam
Crea­
Hazardous
Waste
Manager
Teena
Wooten­
EPA
OSW
Jim
O'Leary­
EPA­
OSW
Nancy
Ellefson­
MN
Pollution
Control
Agency
Date:
May
10,
2006
Jim
O'Leary
and
Teena
Wooten
with
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency's
Office
of
Solid
Waste
and
Nancy
Ellefson
with
the
Minnesota
Pollution
Control
Agency
toured
the
Wipeaire
facility
in
Inver
Grove
Heights,
MN
on
May
10,
2006.
The
facility
manufactures
floats
for
seaplanes.
The
facility
employs
40
people
who
work
four
ten­
hour
days
per
week.
The
facility
is
a
small
quantity
generator.
The
facility
generates
one
drum
of
hazardous
waste
per
week.
Shipments
generally
consist
of
four
drums.

The
pontoons
are
made
by
molding
aluminum
and
riveting
the
pieces
together.
An
epoxy
sealer
is
used
to
seal
the
floats
to
prevent
leakage.
Any
excess
epoxy
has
to
be
removed
before
it
hardens
too
much.
Methyl
Ethyl
Ketone
(
MEK)
is
used
for
this
purpose
and
the
harder
the
epoxy
the
more
solvent
is
needed
for
removal.
A
scotch
weld
primer
is
applied
over
the
rivets
and
the
inside
part
of
the
skin
to
corrosion
proof
the
floats
and
a
caulking
is
used
on
the
rails
to
prevent
corrosion.
The
scotch
weld
is
cleaned
with
MEK
and
the
caulking
is
cleaned
with
lacquer
thinner.
The
facility
uses
approximately
120
25­
lb
boxes
a
year
of
old
white
t­
shirts
that
have
been
cut
into
pieces.
A
bonding
tape
is
used
on
the
aluminum
that
helps
prevent
corrosion.
A
lacquer
thinner
is
used
to
wipe
up
excess
caulking.
When
applying
the
MEK,
the
operator
will
pour
solvent
from
a
two­
gallon
container
onto
the
rag.
The
rags
are
generally
saturated.
Three
sets
of
rags
are
needed
before
the
pontoons
are
considered
clean.
After
use,
the
rags
are
placed
in
a
5­
gallon
satellite
container
and
at
the
end
of
the
shift,
transferred
to
a
55­
gallon
drum.
A
55­
gallon
drum
may
weigh
between
100­
150
pounds.
Only
one
drum,
dated
5­
2­
06,
was
observed
in
the
container
storage
area.

During
the
visit,
Jim
O'Leary
weighed
one
rag.
It
weighed
76.1
grams.
This
was
consist
with
aweight
obtained
from
a
visit
several
years
ago.
