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NPL Site Narrative for Greenwood Chemical Co.
GREENWOOD CHEMICAL CO.
Newtown, Virginia
Federal Register Notice: July 22, 1987Conditions at proposal (January 22, 1987): Greenwood Chemical Co. started manufacturing specialty chemicals on a 15-acre site in Newtown, Albemarle County, Virginia, about 40 years ago. The facility ceased operation on April 18, 1985, after a toluene explosion/fire killed four workers. The site has had three owners. The present owner is a corporation whose major shareholder manages the plant.
In May 1985, the Virginia Department of Health inspected the site, which included five unlined lagoons where process waste water was treated. Various broken, leaking, and uncapped drums were observed. Soils were stained and vegetation stressed. Various aerial photos examined by the State revealed an area where drums had been buried in trenches for over two decades.
In May and June 1985, EPA detected chlorobenzene, benzene, and trichloroethylene in the lagoons, as well as in an off-site well downgradient of the site. Private wells within 3 miles of the site are the sole source of drinking water for an estimated 1,600 people. The nearest well is within approximately 600 feet of one of the lagoons.
Tests conducted by EPA in May 1985 detected volatile organic chemicals in air near the lagoons. The site, in a rural area west of Charlottesville, is surrounded by homes, farms, and community buildings.
State files indicate that in 1971 fish were killed by overflows from the lagoons and that in the mid-1975s cattle were killed. The files indicate that Greenwood Chemical used from 1 to 10 metric tons of cyanide per year.
The facility had a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for discharge of cooling water via surface drainage. The permit was independent of the lagoons.
The site threatens an unnamed tributary to Stockton Creek approximately 3,200 feet downslope from one of the lagoons and along the pathway of surface water migration. Stockton Creek is used for fishing.
EPA is currently conducting additional investigation of the site under the Superfund removal program.
Status (July 22, 1987): EPA is conducting a search for parties potentially responsible for wastes associated with the site and will send them general notice letters informing them of their potential liability.
In March-April 1987, EPA's Emergency Response Team installed a network of monitoring wells and is sampling them and conducting pump tests.
EPA is starting 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.