Geigy Chemical Corporation (Aberdeen Plant)

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index (All PDF): OU1 (8 pp., 300K), ESD (2 pp., 59K), Removal (2 pp., 66K)
• 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 Geigy Site, located in Moore County, North Carolina, is an approximately one-acre parcel that was operated as a pesticide blending and formulation facility from 1947 to 1967 and was operated by retail distributors of agricultural chemicals from 1968 to 1989. Sampling investigations revealed the presence of pesticides in the soil and groundwater. Soil contamination is restricted to the facility while the groundwater plume is over one-mile long. The city of Aberdeen obtains its water from municipal groundwater wells; residents in the area also have private drinking water wells.

Cleanup Progress: Construction Completed
In 1989, 1991, and 1996, the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) removed all the contaminated soil from the site and landscaped it to the specification of the area's beautification committee. In August 1992, a final cleanup decision for the site was reached between EPA and the State. EPA entered into a Consent Decree with three PRPs (Ciba Geigy {currently Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc.}, Olin Corp, and Kaiser) in March 1993 to conduct the design and construction of the remedy. Construction by the PRPs of the groundwater remediation system was completed in the winter of 1996. The system was started and became fully operational in January 1997. An ESD was signed in January 1998 which added additional downgradient monitoring to the remedy. Groundwater treatment and monitoring continues.

A 5-year review of the chosen remedies was conducted and submitted to the Region in September 2003 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This 5-year review is done to evaluate the effectiveness of the remedy chosen and to assure that the chosen remedy is being implemented as provided for in the ROD. The remedial actions at the site currently protect human health and the environment. The soil remediation at the site has been completed and the pump-and-treat remediation of groundwater is ongoing.

The second Five-Year Review Report by EPA, with the assistance from the PRPs, was completed on September 26, 2008. This report made the following four recommendations: 1) Prepare Institutional Controls Implementation Plan – This plan should describe the approach for placing restrictive covenants, well drilling ordinances, or other enforceable institutional controls that will prevent the installation of a potable well on a property which overlies the plume where Site related COCs exceed specified performance standards; 2) Update/Revise modeling efforts in calculating timeframes to achieve groundwater performance standards as well as the MNA evaluation presented in the October 1997 Downgradient Groundwater Remedial Action Work Plan; 3) Re-Evaluate Capture Zone Analysis for both the surficial and the Upper Black Creek aquifer groundwater extraction systems which was last done as part of the first Five-Year Review process; and 4) Revise monthly inspection reporting form to capture observations/conclusions made during the monthly visual (windshield) survey of all areas of the groundwater plume and in areas where the plume is anticipated to move, to determine whether offsite properties are using groundwater for drinking water or other purposes.