National Starch & Chemical Corporation

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index (All PDF): OU1 (22 pp., 729K), OU2 (7 pp., 279K),
  OU3 (10 pp., 423K), OU4 (4 pp., 159K), ESD 1, 2- OU3 (1 pp., 39K)
• 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 National Starch site is located in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina with contamination affecting approximately 20 acres of the 500 acre tract. Construction of the National Starch facility at this location began in 1970 and it remains an active facility. This plant primarily manufactures textile-finishing chemicals and custom specialty chemicals. Production takes place on a batch basis. Volatile and semi-volatile chemicals, and acid and alkaline solutions are used in the manufacturing and cleaning processes. The Site was broken into four Operable Units. The Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Studies for each Operable Unit were conducted under a December 1, 1986 Administrative Order on Consent.

The contaminants detected in the soils throughout the site include the following volatile organics: acetone, 2-butanone, chloroform, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethene, 1,2-dichloroethene (cis/trans), 1,2-dichloropropane, methylene chloride, tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, toluene, and vinyl chloride; for semi-volatile organics: bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate; and for inorganics: antimony, chromium, manganese, thallium, and zinc. The groundwater beneath the site contains basically the same list of contaminants detected in the soil. The following contaminants were found in surface water/sediment at the site: acetone, 1,2-dichloroethane, barium, manganese, vanadium, and zinc. Approximately, 3,000 people live in the area of the site.

Cleanup Progress: Actual Construction Underway
The Operable Unit #1 (OU1) Record of Decision (ROD) was signed September 30, 1988, OU2 ROD was issued on September 28, 1990, OU3 ROD was signed on October 7, 1993 and the OU4 ROD was issued on October 6, 1994. The remedial design and remedial action (RD/RA) for OU1 was conducted under a July 1989 Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO). Implementation for OU 2 was done under an August 1991 Consent Decree which was entered by the Federal Court on July 20, 1992. Construction for OU1 RA began in August 1990 and was completed in March 1996. OU1 involved the installation of a groundwater extraction system in the western portion of the NSCC property and modification of the plant's existing wastewater treatment system to accommodate the additional water from the OU1 groundwater extraction system. The OU2 ROD was a no action ROD for the soils in the Trench Area and required long-term monitoring of these soils as well as an investigation to determine the source of contamination being detected in the Northeast Tributary (i.e., OU3 and OU4). OU3 deals with the contaminated groundwater in the eastern portion of the facility and the OU4 addresses the contaminated soil in this same area. RA construction for OU3 began in the fall of 1998 and was completed in February 2000. The OU4 Natural Attenuation Treatability Study of DCA in the Soils was completed in the spring of 2006. This study indicated that natural degradation of DCA in the soil may be occurring in the subsurface but to a very limited extent. Therefore, the Agency decided to implement the contingent remedial alternative which is soil vapor extraction (SVE) system with an emissions control technology such as fume incineration or activated carbon filtration or a combination of both to control air stream discharged to the atmosphere. However, since the OU4 ROD is 13 years old, the Agency allowed NSCC to evaluate other remediation alternatives that had been developed during the interim. This evaluation concluded that SVE is still the most appropriate technology to remove the DCA from the area covered by OU4. The final remedial design for the SVE system was approved in September 2008.  The remedial action work plan developed by NSCC has been approved by the Agency. Implementation of the OU4 remedy is under construction and construction should be completed by the fall of 2009.