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Koppers Co., Inc. (Florence Plant)
National Information
Photos/Multimedia
Site Photo
- 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: SCD003353026Location: Florence, Florence County, SC
Lat/Long: 34.202200, -079.722900
Congressional District: 06
NPL Status: Proposed: 09/08/83; Final: 09/21/84
Affected Media: Ground water, Sediment, Soil
Cleanup Status: Physical cleanup activities are underway
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: None
Site Manager: Yvonne Jones (jones.yvonneo@epa.gov)
Site Background
The Koppers Co., Inc. Florence Facility is located in Florence, South Carolina, approximately 1.5 miles east of the center of the City of Florence. The 145-Acre Koppers site is an active wood-treating and preserving plant that still generates hazardous wood preserving chemicals. The company currently uses three preservatives in its operations: creosote, pentachlorophenol (PCP), and chromated copper arsenate (CCA).
State and Federal permits for wastewater discharges required the owner to upgrade operating practices once, starting in 1971. The State required the plant's liquid wastes to be sprayed over a field and allowed to evaporate. In addition, the company pumped ‘penta-oil' wastes into four unlined lagoons, where it was released through evaporation and seepage. In 1974, the operation violated the limits of its Federal discharge permit, and the EPA ordered the owner to study and control runoff. The study recommended closing the penta-oil lagoons, the creosote lagoon, and the spray field and replacing them with three concrete -lined solar oxidation ponds. Liquid from the final pond would be sprayed over land. The State approved the new system in 1977, and the EPA focused its concerns on stormwater discharge only.
Homes and apartments, hospitals, schools, and a day care center are all located within a 1-mile radius, as are mobile homes, agricultural lands, and airport, business and light industries. The residential areas are one/4 mile away from the site and contain gardens, livestock, and private wells. At least 1,200 people use the shallow aquifer for drinking water.
Threats and Contaminants
On-site soils are contaminated with polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, pentachlorophenol with trace amount of dioxin, arsenic, and lead. Creosote has been observed in the sediments and surface waters of drainage ditches leading from the site. Free creosote product has been discovered in the ground water at three locations underlying the site.
Site Cleanup Plan
A Remedial Investigation/ Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was undertaken in 1996 for the site.
The site is currently being addressed under the authority of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The EPA RCRA program has formally deferred all activities to the State of South Carolina. As a result of the deferral process, the State of South Carolina's RCRA program is directing the site investigations.
Cleanup Progress
Site cleanup is being addressed in two stages under RCRA
(1) Immediate actions and a long-term remedial phase focusing on a cleanup of the entire site. The potentially responsible parties have studied the ground water problem, provided an alternate water supply to affected residents, and installed recovery wells and a treatment system around the boundary of the site.
(2) Long-term Actions: under EPA monitoring, the owner of the site began a study of the site's pollution problems in 1988. However, the alternate water supply has eliminated the potential for exposure to hazardous materials from the Koppers site via ground water.
Enforcement Activities
Under an Administrative Order by Consent with EPA, Beazer East, Inc. (formerly Koppers) completed the RI/FS at the site in December 1996.
Community Involvement
EPA conducted a range of community involvement activities at the Koppers Florence site to solicit community input and to ensure that the public remained informed about site activities throughout the site cleanup process.
Future Work
EPA plans to propose this site for deletion from the NPL in December 2010 under its policy for deferred RCRA-lead sites.
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.
Florence Public Library
319 South Irby Street
Florence, SC 29501
Administrative Record Index
- OU-1 (PDF) (3 pp, 100K, About PDF)
For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.