![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
NPL Site Narrative for Brown & Bryant, Inc.(Arvin Plant)
BROWN & BRYANT, INC. (ARVIN PLANT)
Arvin, California
Federal Register Notice: October 4, 1989Conditions at proposal (June 24, 1988): Brown & Bryant, Inc. (B&B) has formulated liquid agricultural chemicals on a 4.7-acre site at 600 South Derby Road in Arvin, Kern County, California, since 1960. The area is agricultural, with both croplands and orchards near the site.
Inspections by the California Department of Health Services and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board have documented numerous instances of poor housekeeping practices. On the site are tanks holding Dinoseb and two unlined ponds for pesticide rinse water. One pond is no longer in use. The other, a 250,000-gallon pond, has overflowed twice, and a tank has leaked.
In 1984, the California Department of Health Services identified various pesticides, including dibromochloropropane, ethylene dibromide, and Dinoseb C (which has been banned by EPA), as well as 1,2-dichloropropane and chlorobenzene, in on-site wells. Public and private wells within 3 miles of the site provide drinking water to 7,200 people and irrigate 19,600 acres of cropland. City of Arvin Well #1 is 1,500 feet from the site.
The County District Attorney has filed charges against the owner/operator of B&B for the company's hazardous waste handling practices.
This facility is being proposed for the NPL because it is classified as a non- or late-filer under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Although the facility was treating, storing, or disposing of hazardous waste after November 19, 1980, it did not file a Part A permit application by that date as required and has little or no history of compliance with RCRA Subtitle C.
Status (October 4, 1989): B&B is going out of business. EPA is evaluating a proposal by insurance companies representing B&B which would take over all company assets and provide a negotiated settlement to EPA and the State in exchange for an agreement absolving B&B, its president, and their insurance companies of further liability. The State has agreed to the settlement; EPA is awaiting judicial resolution of attorneys' fees and other key issues.
EPA's Emergency Response Program is evaluating the need to conduct a removal action at the site. In the fall of 1989, EPA is scheduled to start a remedial investigation/feasibility study to determine the type and extent of contamination at the site and identify alternatives for remedial action.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.