ATLANTA - Today, the E.P.A. (EPA) announced that the construction of all cleanup actions at the Chemfax, Incorporated Superfund Location in Gulfport, Miss., are complete. The Location occupies eleven acres just south of I-10 at the intersection of Creosote Road and 3 Rivers Road, and was placed on EPA's National Priorities List in 2012.
Location contaminants included benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and naphthalene, and have impacted groundwater. In 1999, E.P.A. addressed immediate threats at the Location in its 1st cleanup action. Drums, storage tanks, tank contents, asbestos and approximately 3,400 cubic yards of contaminated soils were disposed off-site. Most of the processing lines, tank farms, bulk storage areas, buildings and structures were also dismantled at that time.
In April 2014, field activities began for the Remedial Action at the Site, with excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soils, to address long-term risks. Significant challenges during this work included backing delays and higher volumes of contaminated soils than expected. Construction activities were completed in December 2015, with a total of 109,211 tons of contaminated soils/sediment disposed off-site. E.P.A. and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality conducted a joint Location inspection on personnel on Jan. 12, 2016. The installation of groundwater monitoring wells at the Location was completed on Jan. 29, 2016, while a final Remedial Action report will be finalized in the summer of 2016.
Next Steps
· Long-term monitoring of the ground water beneath the Location will be conducted to ensure that contaminant levels are decreasing with time and not migrating off-site. · Institutional controls on the Location are planned by 2017 to restrict the use of the ground water. · Reviews of the Location will be conducted every 5 years to ensure that the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment. The 1st 5 Year Review will take place in 2021. · The Location is ready to be returned to a productive reuse. Located on Mississippi Sixteenth Section Land, lease payments at the Location will be made to Harrison Co. School Board for the support of public education.
The Chemfax, Inc., facility was established in March 1955 and produced synthetic hydrocarbon resins and waxes from petroleum products. Business operations ceased in 1995.
The Location was 1st suggested to EPA's National Priorities List in 1993. To date, 1,714 sites across the country have been placed on Superfund's National Priorities List. Of those sites, the Chemfax, Inc., Location becomes the 1,178
th Location to achieve Construction Completion status.
For more information about the Site, please visit:
https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0402288
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