Carolina Transformer Company

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index: OU1 (PDF, 6 pp., 229K)
• Additional Site Documents including Five Year Reviews, Records of Decisions (ROD) and Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD).
• For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office (http://www.epa.gov/region4/foiapgs/submit.htm).

Site Background:
The Carolina Transformer site located in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina is an approximately 5 acre site. The Carolina Transformer Company (CTC) conducted at the Site an electrical transformer rebuilding and repair operation from 1967 to 1982. At one time during that period CTC operated as a PCB storage and disposal site for owners of PCB transformers and/or PCB articles. As part of their operations, PCB fluids were drained from transformers and not properly stored and managed. In 1989, after CTC abandoned the Site, the North Carolina Environmental Services Division inspected the Site and found 98 capacitors, 18 of which were ruptured and leaking onto the soil. As a result, soil, and groundwater became contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Volatile organic compounds (VOC) were also detected in the groundwater. The site is situated at the headwater of an unnamed tributary less than two miles from the Cape Fear River. Due to the contaminated soil, the run-off from the Site is contaminated. The site is bounded on the North by a wooded/swamp like area which is adjacent to an agricultural field, some other business and numerous homes. The nearest residence is located approximately 250 feet from the Site. An estimated 3,000 people reside within a 3-mile radius of the Site.

Cleanup Progress: Soil Clean Up Complete, Groundwater Remedy on-Going
Site is fund-lead and all cleanup activities are being conducted through federal and state actions. In 1984, the EPA removed 975 tons of contaminated soil, transported it to a federally approved facility, and then fenced the area. Residents with contaminated groundwater were connected to the public water supply. In early 1990, 98 capacitors were removed from the Site. The cleanup remedy was signed in the fall of 1991, and the design of the groundwater and soil remedies was completed in the fall of 1996. The 1991 remedy includes a solvent extraction system to treat PCB-contaminated soil and a pump-and-treat system to treat the contaminated groundwater. The contract to perform cleanup activities was awarded in the Spring of 1999 and the subcontractor mobilized to the site in November 1999. All soil clean-up activities were completed in September 2003. The groundwater remedy was reevaluated; an amendment to the 1991 Record of Decision was signed in August 2005. The amendment groundwater remedy includes Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) until clean up goals are achieved.  Groundwater monitoring is conducted at the Site once a year.