Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
LAWRENCE COUNTY
SOUTH POINT

Congressional District # 06

SOUTH POINT PLANT

EPA ID# OHD071650592
Last Updated: September, 2006

Site Description

The South Point Plant site, located in Lawrence County, Ohio, is a 610 acre industrial area where numerous potentially responsible parties (PRPs), including Allied-Signal, Ashland Oil, and South Point Ethanol (SPE), produced ammonia fertilizer and formaldehyde and operated a coal-water fuel pilot plant, a pitch prilling test plant, and an ethanol production plant. The site contains three unlined landfills that contain a variety of wastes including fly ash, plant refuse, coal cinders, and small quantities of chemicals. In addition, numerous activities have contributed to the contamination of groundwater and soils, including a number of major spills at the site.

The site is located on the eastern flood plain of the Ohio River. Approximately 65,000 people live within three miles of the site. The village of South Point is the nearest town. The intake for the Ashland, Kentucky municipal water supply, which serves approximately 24,000 people, is located on the Ohio River about one mile downstream of the site. The village of South Point draws its water supply from a well field, located near the site that supplies drinking water to an estimated 4,000 people.

Site Responsibility

This site is being addressed through federal, state, and potentially responsible party (PRP) actions.

Threats and Contaminants

The groundwater is predominantly contaminated with chloride, nitrate, and sulfate, with lesser amounts of the heavy metals iron and manganese. Soils are predominantly contaminated with heavy metals, including arsenic, and lesser amounts of chloride, nitrate, ammonium, and sulfate. Potential health threats exist from accidental ingestion and direct contact with soils and groundwater.

Cleanup Progress

The PRPs, who are past owners, operators, and generators, voluntarily entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to perform a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS). The AOC was signed by U.S. EPA on April 21, 1987. The PRPs submitted a Final RI Report with a Risk Assessment that confirmed the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-VOCs, and metals in soils and groundwater.

Due to the potential for the municipal wells to be affected by contamination from the site one of  the PRPs entered into  an agreement, dated November 1983, with the village of South Point.  Under this agreement, the PRP would continue to pump some on-site process wells in order to hydraulically contain any contaminated groundwater on-site.  Even though that PRP went out of business, the other PRPs continue to honor the agreement.

This containment system will continue to operate at a rate of 2.0 million to 4.0 million gallons per day, until the contaminants in groundwater have dropped to acceptable health based levels.  This is estimated to take approximately 10 years.

A final version of the FS was approved on June, 1997. The Record of Decision was signed in September, 1997. The Consent Decree was entered  in November 1998 under which  the PRPs performed  the Remedial Design/Remedial Action (RD/RA) work.  RD work started in November, 1998 and was completed in March 2001.  The RA work was completed in December 2001.  U.S. EPA conducted a final inspection on December 12, 2001.  A Preliminary Close Out Report, documenting construction completion, was issued on December 28, 2001.  The RA construction completion report was signed for the site on May 9, 2003. 

U.S. EPA completed the first five-year review of the cleaup remedy in May 2006.  This review found that the remedy is protective.  The next five-year review will be completed in 2011.

Property Reuse

On July 26, 2002, U.S. EPA awarded the city of South Point a Superfund Redevelopment Initiative Program grant. This grant is to be used to promote redevelopment of this 610 acre site.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
nabil fayoumi (fayoumi.nabil@epa.gov)
(312) 886-6840

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
bri bill
(312) 353-6646

Aliases

ASHLAND OIL SOUTH POINT FACIL
SOUTH POINT PLT
ALLIED CHEM ETHANOL PLT

 

Site Profile Information

This profile provides you with information on EPA's cleanup progress at this Superfund site.