Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
ANOKA COUNTY
FRIDLEY

Congressional District # 05

FMC CORP. (FRIDLEY PLANT)

EPA ID# MND006481543
Last Updated: March, 2009

Site Description

The FMC Corp. Fridley Plant (FMC) site, located in Anoka County, Minnesota, is an 18-acre site where solvents, paint sludge, and plating wastes were generated and disposed of in an onsite dump from the 1940s to 1969. Sampling of surface and groundwater by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) staff in the early 1980s confirmed that ground and surface water were impacted by industrial solvents from the site. Contaminated groundwater from the site flows towards and discharges to the Mississippi River which is near the site. The Mississippi River, the major source of drinking water for the city of Minneapolis, was impacted by contaminated groundwater from the site. Solvents from the site were detected in the Minneapolis drinking water system intake. It's estimated that 500,000 people receive drinking water from the Minneapolis drinking water system. At one time, because of the threat the site posed to the Minneapolis drinking water system, this site received the highest Hazard Ranking System (HRS) score of all sites on the National Priorities List (NPL). 

Site Responsibility

This Deferral Pilot site is currently being addressed through state and potentially responsible parties' actions.

Threats and Contaminants

Groundwater is contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including trichloroethylene (TCE). Soil was also contaminated with TCE. TCE was detected in high concentrations near the Mississippi River and probably contributed to the detection of VOCs in the Minneapolis drinking water supply intake. The main health risk of concern to people is from drinking contaminated groundwater. There are no private drinking water wells in the area; therefore, area residents are not directly exposed to groundwater contamination from the site. 

Cleanup Progress

On July 8, 1983, MPCA approved an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) and interim Response Order by Consent among MPCA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), and FMC, providing for the excavation and placement of contaminated soil in an onsite vault. Construction of the containment facility began in May 1983. Approximately 38,600 cubic yards of contaminated soil were excavated from a 2.3 acre portion of the site and placed in the vault by July 1, 1983. The vault is monitored under a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit, issued to FMC by the MPCA. 

Additional investigation, required under the order, indicated that the unconfined and confined glacio-fluvial aquifers, comprising an area of approximately 25 acres, were impacted by industrial solvents. The aquifers discharge directly to the Mississippi River. In May 1985, FMC submitted a groundwater cleanup feasibility study (FS). A Response Order by Consent was executed between MPCA and FMC in October 1986 to address the contaminated groundwater. A groundwater pumpout system, consisting of five pumpout wells, was approved by MPCA. Construction was completed, and the system became operational on December 8, 1987. One well, RW-1, was shut down in 1988 due to insufficient water to maintain pumping in the well. The site is currently in long-term operation and maintenance of groundwater pumpout and monitoring. Improvements to the system has been made over time. MPCA continues to monitor the effectiveness of the vault and groundwater pumpout system. The site is one of 13 NPL sites in MPCA's Enforcement Deferral Pilot Project, approved by U.S. EPA. A second five-year review of the site remedies by MPCA staff was completed on March 30, 1999.  A third five-year review was completed on March 17, 2004.  A fourth five-year review is currently under review, and is expected to be completed by April, 2009. The remedies continue to remain protective of public health and the environment. 

Property Reuse

Continues to be used as a manufacturing facility.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
mary tierney (tierney.mary@epa.gov)
(312) 886-4785

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
Don De Blasio
(312) 886-9749

Aliases

FMC CORP NIROP-US NAVY
FMC CORP
FRIDLEY NAVAL INDUSTRIAL RESERVE ORDNANCE PLANT

 

Site Profile Information

This profile provides you with information on EPA's cleanup progress at this Superfund site.