Koppers Co., Inc. (Florence Plant)

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index: OU1 (PDF, 3 pp.,111K )
• 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 Koppers Co., Inc. site is approximately 102 acres in size and is located in the neck area of north Charleston, South Carolina on the west side of the peninsula formed by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. Wood-treating operations were conducted on-site by the Koppers Company from 1940 to 1978. Wood-treating operations consisted primarily of treating raw lumber and utility poles with creosote. For short periods of time, pentachlorophenol and copper chromium arsenate were also used as preservatives in the wood-treating processes. The plant treated utility poles, foundation pilings for building docks and wharfs, railroad ties and other construction materials. Under an Administrative Order by Consent with EPA, Beazer East, Inc. (formerly Koppers) completed the RI/FS at the site in December 1996. On-site soils are contaminated with Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), 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 groundwater at three locations underlying the site. Sediments in the Ashley River and neighboring tidal marshes have demonstrated toxicity to ecological receptors. The area surrounding the site is primarily industrial, but the Rosemont residential community is located approximately 1/4 mile north.

Cleanup Progress: Actual Construction Underway
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 investigations. The site is being addressed in two stages: Immediate actions and a long-term remedial phase focusing on a cleanup of the entire site. Immediate Actions: the parties potentially responsible for site contamination studied the groundwater problem furnished an alternate water supply to affected residents, and installed recovery wells and a treatment system around the boundary of the site. 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 Company, Inc. site through the groundwater. EPA plans to propose this site for deletion from the NPL in  December 2010 under its policy for  deferred RCRA-lead sites.