Chemet Company

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index: OU1 (PDF, 2 pp., 90K)
• 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 Chemet Co. site is located approximately 1 mile east of the City of Moscow. Three buildings and two ponds make up the 5-acre site, which operated from 1978 to 1987 as an antimony oxide plant. The Tennessee Department of Health and Environment (TDHE) visited the site in 1983 and 1989 and found drums containing antimony slag, two 15-gallon drums of sulfuric acid, and several bags of soda ash. TDHE also found the site to be easily accessible to trespassers. In 1990, the facility was secured with a 5 ½ foot fence. A playground at the LaGrange-Moscow Elementary School borders the eastern edge of the Chemet Co. site. In 1992, Chemet Co. constructed a fence around the areas of off-site contamination to prevent the 600 students and 65 workers at the elementary school from further contact with the soil. Approximately 77 people reside within 1 mile of the site.

Cleanup Progress: Construction Completed
Samples collected from on-site ponds, drainage pathways, and the ball field of the adjacent school showed elevated levels of heavy metals including arsenic, antimony, and lead. Although the facility and surrounding contaminated areas are fenced, making contact unlikely, touching or ingesting contaminated surface water or soils may have posed a health threat.

In early 1990, TDHE constructed a 5 ½ foot fence around the facility. In addition, in mid-1990, TDHE removed approximately 300 tons of contaminated soil from an area north of Building No. 3 and stored and locked it in Building No. 2. A second removal of soil occurred later in 1991. In mid-1992, Chemet Co. installed a fence surrounding the area of off-site contamination, preventing the 600 students and 65 workers at the school from further contact with the contaminants.

The Chemet Site was cleaned up through the streamline process Superfund Accelerated Cleanup Model (SACM). A removal action was conducted by EPA at the site from August 1994 to March 1995. In May 1996, the EPA and the State of Tennessee issued a ROD that determined that no further action was needed at the Site. The levels of contaminants of concern have been reduced to acceptable levels. All cleanup goals have been achieved and the Chemet Company site was deleted from the NPL in October 1996. No Five-Year Reviews are required for the Site. No further updates are warranted at this time.