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NPL Site Narrative for Allied Plating, Inc.
ALLIED PLATING, INC.
Portland, Oregon
Federal Register Notice: February 21, 1990Conditions at proposal (January 22, 1987): Allied Plating, Inc., started operating a chrome-plating facility in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, in 1957. The area is light industrial and residential. The operation generated electroplating wastes that contain heavy metals (including chromium, barium, cadmium, lead, and mercury) and arsenic, according to tests conducted by EPA, the State, and the company.
For over 25 years, the company discharged the wastes without pretreatment into an unlined pond in an on-site 0.5-acre swamp that had been filled in. In mid-1985, during an EPA inspection, the banks of the pond were eroding, and the natural drainage channels were filled in with refuse. Shortly thereafter, the owner pumped the contents of the pond into the Portland sewer system.
In 1978, the company detected chromium and barium in an on-site well and in industrial and municipal wells within 2 miles of the site. EPA and the State confirmed the results in 1981, 1984, and 1985. About 1,500 people draw drinking water from public and private wells within 3 miles of the site. A well used for food processing is 1,700 feet from the site. Ground water is also used for irrigation within 3 miles of the site.
The site drains into Columbia Slough, which is 600 feet to the north-northeast. The slough is a part of the Columbia River.
The company received Interim Status under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) when it filed Part A of a permit application for a surface impoundment. In 1982, the company filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the Federal bankruptcy code, and in 1984 consented to liquidation under Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Because the owner or operator has demonstrated inability to finance appropriate remedial action by invoking bankruptcy laws, the site satisfies a component of EPA's NPL/RCRA policy. In addition, the company lost Interim Status (and hence authority to operate) when it did not certify by November 8, 1985, that it was complying with certain RCRA Subtitle C regulations.
Status (February 21, 1990): EPA is considering various alternatives for the site.
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.