Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
MONROE COUNTY
HANNIBAL

Congressional District # 06

ORMET CORP.

EPA ID# OHD004379970
Last Updated: October, 2006

Site Description

The Ormet Corp. site, located along the Ohio River in Monroe County, Ohio, is an aluminum processing facility that began operating in 1958. Between 1958 and 1968, about 85,000 tons of spent potliner material were stored in an unlined open storage area. The spent potliner was also placed in an unlined landfill adjacent to the Ohio River. At the time of the remedial investigation, about 1500 people lived within a three-mile radius of the site, and over 3,000 employees of Ormet Corp. and the nearby aluminum rolling mill plant, which is now owned by Ormet, obtained drinking water from a well that is about 2,000 feet from the site. There are two interceptor wells, installed by Ormet in 1973, which extract the contaminated plume before it reaches the drinking water well and a process water well on the site. This water is sent to an on-site treatment plant.  Presently, the rolling mill is no longer used and the operations at the processing facility have been cut back so the number of employees at the plants has decreased substantially.

Site Responsibility

This site is being addressed through federal, state, and potentially responsible party (PRP) actions.

Threats and Contaminants

The groundwater is contaminated with cyanide, fluoride, arsenic and manganese. The soils and sediments in a backwater area were contaminated with cyanide, fluoride and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).  Groundwater migration is controlled by a pump and treatment system.  Contaminated soils and sediments were placed in an on-site landfill, which was capped. 

Cleanup Progress

A remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) was completed in September 1994.  A Record of Decision (ROD) was issued on September 12, 1994 and an Explanation of Significant Differences was issued on April 1, 1997 that specify the remedy for the site. 

The Consent Decree between the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and Ormet Corp. for design and construction was entered with the court on December 18, 1995. Ormet has completed the remedial design and the construction of the remedy. A Preliminary Close-Out Report documenting completion of construction was signed on August 4, 1998. The remedy included: 

• Excavation of PCB contaminated soils and sediment and placement in a Toxic Substance Control Act cell built inside the on-site landfill. 
• Capping of the landfill. 
• Installation of a flushing system on the former spent potliner storage area. 
• Continuation of the extraction and treatment of the contaminated groundwater from beneath the site. 
• Long-term monitoring and maintenance of the site and placement of institutional controls.

Long-term monitoring of the site is continuing.  The flushing system is being operated, except during the coldest weather. The first five-year review report was issued in May 2002. The report stated that the remedy was functioning as anticipated and that, because the remedial actions are protective, the remedy at the site is protective of human health and the environment.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
bernard schorle (schorle.bernard@epa.gov)
(312) 886-4746

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
bob paulson
(312) 886-0272

Aliases

ORMET CORP

 

Site Profile Information

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