Elmore Waste Disposal

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index: OU2 (PDF, 13 pp., 544K)
• 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 Elmore Waste Disposal site, in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, is a ½-acre backyard site located in a residential area just east of the city of Greer. Between 1975 and 1977, a large number of drums containing liquid wastes were placed onsite. In 1977, the property owner signed a Consent Order with the State of South Carolina for cleanup of the site. Judging the actions taken as totally inadequate, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) ordered the owner to stop use of the site. Between 1981 and 1984, SCDHEC and EPA investigated site conditions and found arsenic, chromium, and other heavy metals, as well as a number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in site soils. At various times during this period there were between 150 and 300 drums present onsite, as well as a 6000-gallon partially-buried tank containing contaminated, waste oil. After the property owner died in 1983, ownership passed to his heirs, one of whom continued to operate the site and accept waste drums. After all efforts to compel this operator to clean up the site failed, SCDHEC in June 1986 accomplished a state-funded removal action of 5,500 tons of contaminated soil and 16,800 pounds of liquid wastes, which were taken to an appropriate hazardous waste facility. Groundwater monitoring wells installed after this removal, and EPA's remedial investigation in 1991-1992, established that a groundwater plume extending some 700 feet north from the site is highly contaminated by two common solvents (VOCs), trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. The estimated area underlain by this plume (north of the Elmore property) is 6-10 acres. Although no private water wells are located near this plume, the groundwater discharges to a creek behind neighborhood homes.

Cleanup Progress: Construction Complete
The 1986 soil removal took away the largest portion of the health threat from surface soil contamination. EPA completed a soil remedial action in August 1994, which included disposal of approximately 350 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the affected area. The groundwater pump-and-treat system was constructed during 1997-1998. The system includes ten (12) pumping wells, which capture the contaminated groundwater and direct it to an on-site treatment unit (activated carbon). Initially, after treatment the water was discharged to the City of Greer’s sanitary sewer (Greer Commission on Public Works) (POTW) under an Industrial Pretreatment permit. The groundwater system has been operational since September 1998.

During 2001, EPA initiated an Optimization Project for the pump-and-treat system, with the goal of evaluating and later improving system performance and cost-effectiveness.  As a result of this project, EPA adjusted pumping rates at individual extraction wells, added two additional extraction wells, and addressed a newly-identified area on-site with elevated VOCs in soil and groundwater.  Discharge of treated groundwater has been changed to a nearby creek instead of the City’s POTW. 
In 2009, EPA will make a few modifications to the groundwater pump-and-treat system.   In addition, SCDHEC will assume responsibility for operating and maintaining the groundwater pump-and-treat system, as well as monitoring the groundwater quality at the site.