Mid-Atlantic Superfund

Contacts

Bulletin Board

Questions

The EPA is dedicated to providing you with timely and accurate information about our work at this site. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact:
Carrie Dietzel 215-814-5525, 1-800-553-2509

Site Status

• On September 30, 2010 - EPA issued an action memorandum which considered public comments on a Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) and selected the response action to clean up the site.
  
  
• The memorandum requires cleanup measures to protect the Monongahela River portion of the site. These measures should reduce the presence of uncontrolled contaminants in a "hotspot" of industrial waste on the river bottom. This waste is referred to as black semi-solid deposits, or BSD.
  
  
  
• They will also address contaminants in stained sediments near the toxic hotspot. The BSD and the stained sediments contain high levels of coal tar derivatives. The BSD and stained sediments will be excavated and transported to a treatment or disposal facility.
  
  
• The cleanup measures also include construction of a cap over contaminated soil and upgrading an existing groundwater containment system on the upland portion of the Site. The cap will be designed in a manner that will allow the site to be safely redeveloped or to provide wildlife habitat.
  
  
• In October 2012 three companies -- Exxon Mobil Corp., Vertellus Specialties Inc., and CBS Corp.—entered into a consent decree with EPA and WVDEP agreeing to perform cleanup work selected in the action memorandum and reimburse the EPA and the state of West Virginia $11 million for past cleanup costs at the Site.
  
  
• Cleanup plans and schedules will be developed in the spring of 2013 and cleanup actions are expected to extend through 2014.
  
  
• Work is currently ongoing to prevent the release of tar seeps to surface water and the Monongahela River.
  
  
• Since 2001, more than 12.9 million gallons of contaminated water have been captured in a collection system and cleansed in a series of water treatment systems before they could enter the river.
  
  
• Early activities included removing piles of crushed fluorescent light bulbs containing mercury and lead and controlling the migration of contaminants from the site with engineering controls, including a sedimentation basin which is periodically cleaned and maintained.
  

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Background

• The Big John Salvage Hoult Road Site is located on approximately 38 acres on the east side of Fairmount, Marion County, West Virginia, near the east bank of the Monongahela River, with deciduous forest surrounding the site to the north and east.
  
  
• The Sharon Steel/Fairmont Coke Superfund Site is located on the southern side, Hoult Road borders to the north and the Monongahela River borders the site to the west.
  
  
• The area surrounding the site is composed of a mixture of light industrial and residential properties.
  
  
• Between 1925 and 1973, the site was owned by Reilly Corporation or its predecessor companies (Reilly, now doing business as Vertellus) and was used primarily in the processing of approximately 12,000 gallons per day of crude tar from the nearby Domestic Coke Corporation.
  
  
• Crude tar was pumped from tank cars to storage tanks, and later separated by distillation and condensation processes. The creosote product was sold as a wood preserving compound. Acid oil was removed and treated in an extraction unit to remove phenol, and the tar was sold for road construction. The oil would then be cooled to remove naphthalene and other compounds which were then sold as a product. Remaining crude acids were usually shipped to other Reilly plants for final processing.
  
  
• Wastes from the tar refining process were retained in "ponds" near the southern property line or disposed in various areas on-site. The ponds also received wastes from the three on-site sewers and several drainage ditches. All cooling waters, acid wastes, and tar wastes were supposed to pass through the pond. Discharge from the retention pond flowed through a pipe into an unnamed tributary which emptied into the Monongahela River. Coal tar seeps and constituents of the coal tar refining process were found to be actively discharging from the site.
  
  
• In January 1973, Reilly sold its property on Hoult road to Big John Salvage, who owned and operated a metal, glass and oil salvaging operation at the site until 1997.
  
  
• During this time of ownership, Big John Salvage accepted various scrap and salvageable materials from Westinghouse Electric, including fluorescent light bulbs containing mercury and other hazardous substances, lead dust and mercury-tainted waste oil.
  
  
• In 1997, the land was purchased by Steel Fabricators, Inc. apparently for timber operations.
  
  
• On February 4, 2000, the site was proposed to the National Priorities List, a register of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites requiring long-term cleanup.
  
  
• On July 27, 2000, the site was formally added to the list, making it eligible for federal cleanup funds.
  

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