Alabama NPL/NPL Caliber Cleanup Site Summaries

Anniston PCB Site
EPA ID: ALD000400123
Location: Anniston, Calhoun County, AL
Congressional District: 03
NPL Status: Caliber
Project Manager
Documents:

• Site Profile
• Site Update - June 2007
• Response to Comments - SECTION 122 ADMINISTRATIVE AGREEMENT AND ORDER ON CONSENT FOR REMOVAL ACTION and 95 EXHIBITS
• SECTION 122 ADMINISTRATIVE AGREEMENT AND ORDER ON CONSENT FOR REMOVAL ACTION FOR THE ANNISTON LEAD SITE AND ANNISTON PCB SITE, ANNISTON, CALHOUN COUNTY, ALABAMA. DOCKET NO. CERCLA-04-2005-3777
• Proposed Plan Fact Sheet. September 2003 (PDF, 10 pp., 600K)
• Anniston Baseline Risk Assessment (PDF, 331 pp., 20MB)
Human Health Risk Assessment Fact Sheet (PDF, 10 PP., 646kb)

• Fact Sheet, June 2003 (PDF, 8 pp., 329K)


• Final Consent Decree, October 2002 (PDF, 340 pp., 12.4M)


• Consent Decree Fact Sheet, October 2002 (PDF, 2 pp., 85K)


• Fact Sheet, August 2002 (PDF, 3 pp., 84K)


• Fact Sheet, January 2002 (PDF, 3 pp., 18K)


• AOC Fact Sheet, October 2001 (PDF, 2 pp., 275K)


• Fact Sheet, February 2001 (PDF, 4 pp., 67K)


• Removal Pollution Reports (POLREPS)

Site Description
The Anniston PCB site consists of residential, commercial, and public properties located in and around Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama, that contain or may contain hazardous substances, including polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) impacted media.  The Site is not listed on the NPL, but is considered to be a NPL-caliber site. Solutia Inc.'s Anniston plant encompasses approximately 70 acres of land and is located about 1 mile west of downtown Anniston, Alabama. The plant is bounded to the north by the Norfolk Southern and Erie railroads, to the east by Clydesdale Avenue, to the west by First Avenue, and to the south by U.S. Highway 202. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were produced at the plant from 1929 until 1971. Solutia Inc. currently produces polyphenyl compounds at the Anniston plant.

During its operational history, the plant disposed of hazardous and nonhazardous waste at various areas, including the west end landfill and the south landfill, which are located adjacent to the plant. In addition, during the time that PCBs were manufactured by Monsanto Company at its Anniston plant, a waste water stream containing PCBs discharged from the Site to a ditch which flowed into Snow Creek. Sampling by EPA, Solutia Inc., ADEM, and other parties has indicated that sediments in drainage ditches leading away from the plant, Snow Creek, and Choccolocco Creek, as well as sedimentary material in the floodplains of these waterways, contain varying levels of PCBs and other contaminants.

Threats and Contaminants

EPA has been performing an investigation in Anniston under CERCLA to evaluate the threat to public health, welfare, or the environment posed by hazardous substances, including PCBs in Anniston.  EPA has sampled the soil at hundreds of properties in Anniston for PCBs since June of 1999. Many of the properties tested contain PCBs. The level of PCBs detected ranged from non-detect to 317 mg/kg.

Cleanup Approach

The site is been addressed in four operable units (OUs).  OU1 includes the residential properties in urban areas surrounding the Solutia facility and north of Hwy 78 in Oxford, Alabama.  OU2 includes commercial/industrial properties in urban areas surrounding the Solutia facility and north of Hwy 78 in Oxford, Alabama.  OU3 is the Solutia facility, including the West End and South Landfills.  OU4 is the portion of Snow Creek and its flood plain south of Hwy 78 and Choccolocco Creek and its flood plain, from the backwater area above the intersection with Snow Creek to the embayment at Lake Logan Martin. 

Response Action Status

In October 2000, Solutia entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) with EPA to sample properties in west Anniston for PCB contamination. Under the order, Solutia was required to cleanup any property where PCBs are found at a level that could cause short-term health concerns. In October 2001 EPA and Solutia entered into a revised AOC expanding the physical area of sampling and remediation from the October 2000 AOC.

In 2002, EPA and Solutia completed negotiations for performing a Remedial Investigation/ Feasibility Study.  The negotiations were memorialized in a Partial Consent Decree (CD) rather than an AOC, to provide judicial oversight of the process and address community trust issues.  The Partial CD was lodged in Federal court on March 25, 2002 and was made available for public comment. The Partial CD was revised based on public comment and was entered by the Federal court on August 4, 2003.  The final Partial CD requires Solutia to conduct a Non-Time Critical (NTC) Removal Action to address long-term health concerns on residential properties, EPA to evaluate the human health risks caused by the site, and Solutia to perform the remainder of the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study, including sampling, evaluation of risks to the environment, and feasibility studies to compare alternative to reduce risks at the site . The Partial CD also includes an agreement to establish a $3.2 million foundation to assist in funding special education needs for Anniston-area children and up to $150 thousand for a qualified community group to hire a technical advisor.

Cleanup Progress

OU1 NTC Removal Action:  Residential cleanup began under a NTC Removal Action in August 2004.  The cleanup includes excavation of surface soils (top 12 inches) in residential yards where five-point composite soil samples contain total PCB concentrations greater then 1 parts per million (ppm), excavation of subsurface soils (greater than 12 inches in depth) in residential yards where five-point composite soil samples contain total PCB concentrations greater then 10 ppm, and cleanup of home interiors with total PCB concentrations in dust greater then 1 ppm.  Approximately 400 properties were cleaned up by the end of December 2007.  An additional 100 properties have been identified that require cleanup and sampling is ongoing.

OU1/2 RI/FS: Sampling is underway for commercial/industrial areas.  Residential areas are being sampled as part of the NTC removal activities.  EPA will conduct the Human Health Risk Assessment when sampling is complete.  

OU3 RI/FS: Sampling is complete.  The results were compiled in a Site Characterization Report, and several addendums long with sampling results collected by the facility under its RCRA permit.  EPA has prepared a human health risk assessment.  The RI/FS is projected for completion in 2008.

OU4 RI/FS:  Phase I sampling is complete.  EPA and Solutia will work cooperatively to develop a draft phase 2 field sampling plan.  Phase II sampling should be conducted in 2008.  The RI/FS is not expected to be complete for OU4 until 2010.