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U.S. EPA REGION 5
DARKE COUNTY
DARKE COUNTY
DARKE COUNTY
DARKE COUNTY
Congressional District # 08
ARCANUM IRON & METAL
EPA ID# OHD017506171Last Updated: October, 2006
Site Description
The 4.5 acre Arcanum Iron and Metal (AIM) Superfund site, located just outside the limits of the village of Arcanum, Twin Township, Darke County, Ohio, operated as a lead battery reprocessing facility from the early 1960's until 1982. During this operation, battery casings were split to extract lead cores for smelting. Battery acids generated from this operation were allowed to drain to a low area onsite. Reprocessing of the plastic and black rubber battery casings generated lead oxide sludge that collected on the ground and surface of the site. Past practices at the facility included burial of some materials in onsite pits. The State of Ohio investigated a fish kill in Sycamore Ditch and Painter Creek near the site in 1964. In 1979, the state entered into a Consent Decree (CD) with the site owner to clean up the site, but the results were unsatisfactory. The owner ceased operation in 1982, having never fully complied with the provisions of the State CD. The AIM site was proposed for listing on the National Priorities List (NPL) of hazardous waste sites on December 30, 1982, and was made final on the NPL on September 8, 1983. There are about 4,000 people who live in the area of the site. The village of Arcanum's water supply is furnished by wells within one mile of the site, and private wells are also nearby.Site Responsibility
This site is being addressed through federal and potentially responsible parties' (PRPs) actions.Threats and Contaminants
Prior to delisting from the NPL sampling and analysis of groundwater and residential wells indicate that there is no groundwater contamination due to site contamination.Cleanup Progress
To reduce public access to the contaminated site areas, a fence was constructed around the entire facility by the potentially responsible parties in 1984. The Remedial Investigation Report was completed on August 9, 1985. The Feasibility Study (FS) Report was completed on July 15, 1986. The Record of Decision (ROD) was signed on September 26, 1986, selecting excavation and offsite disposal of onsite contaminated soils and battery casings; excavation and offsite disposal of offsite contaminated oils; demolition and/or cleaning of buildings; deed restrictions; and groundwater monitoring. The conceptual design was completed in April 1988. The AIM Site Investigation Report was completed in August, 1989. The Pilot Plant Report and the Economic Analysis Reports were completed in June 1992. A ROD Amendment was signed on June 18, 1997, that revised the cleanup levels for lead-contaminated soils at the AIM site. As a result, the projected costs for remediating the site have been revised downward from approximately $20 million to $6 million. The United States Environmental Protection Agency began Remedial Design and Remedial Action (RD/RA) negotiations on August 1, 1996, and concluded on July 15, 1998. In the fall 1998, a CD for RD/RA was lodged and entered with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division, Dayton, Ohio, for RD/RA Site. The RA was initiated and completed in the Fall and Winter of 1999. The RA consisted of soil/debris consolidation, onsite treatment and offsite disposal of all contaminated soil/debris. Excavated areas were backfilled with clean soil. Three groundwater monitoring events indicate that no ground water contamination exists. The site was delisted from the NPL on August 31, 2001.Aliases
ARCANUM IRON & METAL CO