Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc

EPA ID:DED041212473

Location:

745 Governor Lea Rd
New Castle, DE 19720

Congressional District: 1st

Other Names:Metachem Products, LLC

Last Updated: October 2009

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Remedial Project Manager
Mr. Hilary Thornton
215-814-3323
thornton.hilary@epa.gov

Community Involvement Coordinator
Trish Taylor
215-814-5539
taylor.trish@epa.gov

Government Relations
Shawn Garvin
215-814-2998
garvin.shawn@epa.gov

EPA to issue Record of Decision for Operable Unit 3, contaminated soil cleanup by fall 2009.

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Groundwater

Since 2007, the EPA has been operating an interim cleanup system to treat contaminated groundwater at Standard Chlorine.
The system includes a subsurface (or underground) barrier wall around the site, and a pump and treat system which pumps out the contaminated groundwater from within the wall and treats it to remove the contaminants.
The water, which meets state standards, is discharged to the surface and flows overland into Red Lion Creek.
EPA is studying groundwater at the site in preparation for a future final remedy for groundwater.

Chemical Disposal

A 2004 amendment to the original cleanup decision document, the Record of Decision, allowed for off-site incineration of the 1.3 million gallons of bulk liquid chemicals on site.
Since 2006, the bulk liquid chemicals have been taken off site in containers and incinerated.
Incineration is over 80 percent completed and expected to be completed later in 2009 using Recovery Act funds.

Structures, Waste, and Plant Area Soils

By 2006, EPA’s Removal Program had dismantled the majority of the facility’s buildings, structures, tanks and equipment and recycled or disposed of them properly. The last remaining distillation columns were dismantled for recycling in spring 2009.
Chemical wastes also had been disposed of properly.
EPA is preparing to propose a remedy later in 2009 for the soils in the former plant area.

Soil and Sediments

EPA took over the cleanup in 2002, after Metachem declared bankruptcy. By 2004, the agency discovered that the volume of soil and sediments needing cleanup is four times the original estimate in the ROD.
EPA determined that the cleanup method for contaminated soils and sediments selected in the ROD, bioremediation (using bacteria to break down the contaminants), did not appear feasible at that time.
The agency is in the process of testing other cleanup methods to address the contaminated soil and sediments.
As of the end of 2009, no decision has been made.

The Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc. Superfund Site (also known as Metachem) is three miles northwest of Delaware City. It is approximately 65 acres in size, and is west of River Road (Route 9) near the south bank of Red Lion Creek.
The plant was built in 1965 on what was then farmland. The area is now quite industrialized with many other companies located nearby, such as the Valero Refinery, Stauffer Chemical, Occidental Chemical, Air Products and Chemicals, to name a few.
Standard Chlorine sold the plant to Metachem Products, L.L.C. in 1998, but in 2002, Metachem abruptly closed and abandoned the plant and declared bankruptcy.
Standard Chlorine of Delaware, later Metachem, manufactured chlorinated benzene compounds from 1966 to 2002.
The site was listed on EPA’s National Priorities List of most hazardous waste sites in 1987, due to a 1981 chlorobenzene chemical spill, which occurred when workers were filling a railroad tanker car.
An additional spill occurred in 1986, when 569,000 gallons of various volatile organic compounds spilled, damaging some nearby tanks, causing the latter tanks to partially spill.
Chlorobenzenes from the spill have been found in groundwater, soil, creek sediments, surface water, and nearby wetlands.
A fish consumption advisory is in effect for the Red Lion Creek for PCBs and dioxin.

Status: Final	Added: 1983
Deleted:

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Standard Chlorine took the following emergency measures after the 1986 spill: 1) built a filter fence along the mouth of the wetland coves; 2) recovered some of the material that had flowed off site; 3) constructed a dike to isolate contaminants; and 4) excavated contaminated soils and sediments; 5) constructed a lined pond to store dredged materials.
In 1988 Standard Chlorine signed a consent order with DNREC to take short-term cleanup measures and investigate the site to determine the effect of the spills on groundwater, soil and wetlands.
EPA issued the Record of Decision in 1995 which detailed cleanup methods to address the site.
The ROD included an interim cleanup method for the groundwater which is now ongoing, and final cleanup methods for the soil and sediments.
The ROD originally called for bioremediation treatment (use of bacteria to break down the chemicals) of the soil and sediments, but later studies showed that bioremediation did not appear feasible at that time.
The EPA took over the cleanup in 2002, after Metachem declared bankruptcy.
The EPA discovered that there was four times more contaminated soil and sediments than originally accounted for in the ROD.
The agency is in the process of studying various disposal/treatment methods for addressing the contaminated soil and sediments.

Chlorobenzenes from spilled material have been found in the ground water, soil, sediments, and surface water. People may be exposed to the chemicals by direct contact with contaminated soil or accidentally ingesting contaminated soil or water. Wetlands near the site are impacted by contamination that emanated from the spill areas. The levels of contamination in the soils, surface water, and sediment may impact the quality of the wildlife and the ecosystems along Red Lion Creek. Chlorobenzenes have been found in tissue of fish obtained from Red Lion Creek.
Contaminant descriptions and risk factors are available from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an arm of the CDC.

To search an on-line database of all documents and reports on the Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc site, go to EPA’s Administrative Record Database.

All documents and reports can also be reviewed in person at these locations:

DE Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control
Site Information and Restoration Branch
391 Lukens Drive
New Castle, DE 19720-2774
302-395-2600

U.S. EPA Region III
1650 Arch Street—6th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 814-3157
Call for an appointment.

Some of the site’s key documents of interest are accessible below.

Record of Decision ("ROD")
- Amendment No. 1 to ROD (PDF) (26 pages, 4.98Mb)
Groundwater Design
- September 2005 Final Report (PDF) (113 pp, 325KB)
Work Plan for Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study
- 01/05/2004: Volume 1—Technical Approach (PDF) (75 pp, 783K)
- 01/05/2004: Volume 1—Figures (PDF) (3 pp 1.48MB)
Submit a FOIA Request
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On-site Demolition.	Preparations for the Barrier Wall Construction.	Cleaned and dismantled processing equipment is being removed from the Site for proper disposal, reuse and/or recycling.	More photos of Cleaned and dismantled processing equipment is being removed from the Site for proper disposal, reuse and/or recycling.	“Totes” in storage.