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Cabot/Koppers
National Information
On site wood operations at the Cabot/Koppers site.
- Additional Site Photos
- Site Video
Additional Resources
- Site Cleanup Terms - can be found in EPA's glossary
- EPA Guides to Cleanup Technologies
- Superfund Community Involvement (PDF) (17 pp, 130K, About PDF)
Site Summary Profile
EPA ID: FLD980709356Location: Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida
Lat/Long: 29.675000/ -082.323060
Congressional District: 05
NPL Status: Proposed: 09/08/1983; Final: 09/21/1984
Affected Media: Groundwater, Soil
Cleanup Status: Physical cleanup activities have started
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: In reuse - commercial; in continued use - industrial
Site Manager: Scott Miller (miller.scott@epa.gov)
Site Background
The Cabot/Koppers Superfund site covers 140 acres bridging two properties. It is comprised of two sites: the Koppers portion covering 90 acres on the western side, and the Cabot Carbon portion covering 50 acres on the eastern side.
A wood-treating operation on the Koppers portion of the site, currently operated by Koppers Industries, has been active since 1916. Cabot Carbon formerly operated a charcoal production operation on the Cabot Carbon portion. This portion has been redeveloped and currently contains a commercial shopping mall, car dealership and a series of smaller stores and businesses.
Two potentially responsible parties (PRPs) are funding the cleanup. Beazer East, Inc. (Beazer East) is the PRP for the Koppers portion of the site. Cabot Corporation is the PRP for the Cabot Carbon portion.
Threats and contaminants
Poor waste handling practices in the past have resulted in contaminated ground water, soil and possibly off-site surface water. Contaminants include arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and creosote compounds.
Site Cleanup Plan
An approved cleanup approach, or Record of Decision (ROD), was signed for the site in 1990 to address soil and ground water contamination.
The major cleanup approach identified for the Cabot Carbon portion included installing a ground water trench to intercept contaminated ground water from the upper surficial aquifer and discharge to the publicly-owned treatment works (POTW). The cleanup approach also called for additional soil sampling at the former Cabot wastewater lagoon area and the northeast "wetland lagoon area" near North Main Street. If necessary, remediation of these areas would be conducted.
The selected cleanup approach for the Koppers portion included excavation and treatment of contaminated unsaturated soil, soil backfilling and installation of a groundwater pump and treat system in the surficial aquifer.Clean-up Progress
Both parties have conducted investigations and have completed several cleanup actions.
In 1985, an initial surface water interceptor system was installed on the Cabot Carbon property to intercept phenol-contaminated surface water from entering the Main Street ditch, thereby preventing it from contaminating downgradient streams.
In 1994, contaminated sediment was excavated from the Northeast Lagoon.
In June 1995, Cabot Carbon completed construction of the final trench which intercepts contaminated ground water from the shallow aquifer and discharges it to the POTW.
A surficial ground water pump/treat system was constructed on the Koppers property in February 1994. Operation of the system began in August 1995.
Removal of contaminated soils on the Koppers property, as required in the 1990 ROD, was delayed when additional investigation identified unknown sources of dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPLs) and dioxin-contaminated soils within the Koppers property. Treatability studies also showed that the selected remedy specified in the 1990 ROD could not reach the soil cleanup criteria specified in the ROD.
As a result of the discovery, Beazer East prepared a Supplemental Feasibility Study in 1999, addressing the DNAPLs and dioxin contamination. The Feasibility Study was revised by EPA in 2000. In 2001, EPA drafted a proposed plan for a containment remedy at the Koppers portion, which was rescinded in 2001 due to technical concerns related to the ground water conceptual model.
In late 2001, further investigation of ground water below the surficial aquifer was conducted. In 2002, migration of contaminants into the intermediate aquifer, known as the Hawthorn Group was discovered. Starting in 2003, Floridan aquifer monitoring wells were installed and sampled. Contamination was discovered in the aquifer located beneath the intermediate aquifer, known as the Floridan aquifer in 2004.
In late 2005, Beazer East began installing a network of deeper Floridan wells in the Upper Transmissive Zone. The first sampling results became available in spring 2006, which showed contamination within the Koppers property boundary. In November 2006, Beazer East began drilling Floridan wells in the Lower Transmissive Zone to serve as sentinel wells at the property boundary. These wells primarily showed no contamination at the site boundaries in the Floridan aquifer. Starting in late 2004, Beazer also conducted a number of studies evaluating the feasibility of implementing removal and treatment technologies to remediate surficial ground water and soils at the site. Additional Operable Units (OUs) for the Cabot/Koppers site were designated (Cabot: OU-1; Koppers surficial: OU-2; Koppers Hawthorn Group: OU-3; Koppers Floridan aquifer: OU-4).
Using all available information, EPA began conducting a Feasibility Study (FS) at OU-2, scheduled to be completed in late 2006. Beazer East proposed a collaborative approach to formulating an FS for all OUs, and EPA put previous separate FS efforts on hold pending a successful conclusion of the collaborative FS approach. Starting in October 2007, several meetings between EPA, Beazer East and other stakeholders were held to screen applicable technologies for all OUs. At the meeting held in August 2008, stakeholders began firming up compliance details and refining technology alternatives in preparation for choosing one site-wide Koppers comprehensive remedy.
On June 23, 2008, Beazer East also submitted a proposed probabilistic risk assessment approach for soil and sediment. Florida Department of Environmental Protection and EPA provided preliminary comments on the proposed approach in July and August 2008. Beazer East has installed and sampled two sentinel wells between the Koppers portion and the Gainesville Regional Utility Murphee wellfield. Sampling results showed no detection of Site-related contaminants. Beazer East installed an interim remedial measure in the surficial aquifer which doubles the current pumping rate and removes contaminated groundwater from recovery trenches directly next to the four principal source areas. Beazer East utilized contaminated soils from recovery trench installation and on-Site Koppers drainage ditch excavation sediments in a pilot soil solidification/stabilization project in the South Lagoon.
Enforcement Activities
In 1991, Cabot Carbon signed a Consent Decree to perform the cleanup on the former Cabot plant property and to repay its share of past costs. Koppers Industries (Beazer East) refused to sign a Consent Decree, but agreed to perform the cleanup on their property under a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO). In 1991, the UAO was issued to Koppers and Beazer East, which was later amended in 1994.
Community Involvement
Gainesville citizens began showing interest in the site prior to its listing on the National Priorities List (NPL). During 1989-1990 EPA held a number of informal meetings with concerned local citizens to discuss various issues and listen to their concerns.
The formal public comment period for the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study was held in August-September 1990. A related public meeting was held during this time.
A public notice was issued on January 2006 by EPA to notify the community of the second Five-Year Review for the site. The notice was published in the Gainesville Sun daily newspaper.
EPA awarded Alachua County $108,000 through a cooperative agreement to conduct a sediment sampling in Springstead and Hogtown Creek, and stormwater sampling study to address community concerns related to stormwater runoff and creek contamination from a breaching of Cabot lagoons. Sediment sampling and analysis were submitted in a May 12, 2009 Report from Alachua County EPD.
On June 11, 2009, EPA representatives along with FDEP, Florida Department of Health, Alachua County EPD, Beazer East, and Koppers participated in a public availability session at the Stephen Foster Elementary School to discuss results of February 2009 off-site soil sampling results with area residents.
On March 2009, EPA Region 4, Beazer East, and FDEP representatives participated in a special Gainesville City Commission meeting to discuss soil cleanup standards and future possible land reuse scenarios for the Koppers portion of the site in the event that the current Koppers wood-treatment facility ceases operations at some point in the future. EPA Region 4 participated in a similar joint City of Gainesville Commission/Alachua County Commission public meeting in May 2008.Fact Sheets
- Cabot-Koppers Reuse Fact Sheet (PDF) (1 pp, 251K, About PDF)
Future Work
EPA expects to issue a draft Feasibility Study for the Koppers portion of the site by late Augustl 2009 and issue a final Record of Decision by November 2009.
As part of the 2006 Five-Year Review recommendations for the Cabot Carbon portion of the site, Cabot had to undertake an additional remedial investigation and interceptor trench effectiveness evaluation to assure that the interceptor trench continues to be effective in remediating contaminants attributable to the Cabot Carbon portion of the site. If the additional Cabot study indicates that the interceptor trench does not continue to be protective, a ROD amendment will be necessary for the Cabot Carbon portion.Site Administrative Documents
Site Repository
For more information or to view any site related documents, please visit the site information repository at the following location. As new documents are generated, they will be placed in the information repository for public information.
Alachua County Library
401 E. University Ave.
Gainesville, FL 32601
Administrative Record Index
- OU-1 (PDF) (17 pp, 697K, About PDF)
- ROD Amendment (PDF) (10 pp, 527K, About PDF)
For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.