Gadsden, AL: Techtrix
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed the removal of hazardous wastes from the Techtrix, Inc. site (the Site), an electroplating and metal finishing facility located at 525 Plainview Street in Gadsden, Alabama. The cleanup was performed as a time-critical removal action to permanently remove the material from the Site and protect human health and the environment.
In total, more than 100,000 gallons of liquid waste - including approximately 38,000 gallons of cyanide - and 21,000 pounds of contaminated debris were removed from the Site, thus eliminating the threat this facility posed to the surrounding community.
After removal, EPA sampled properties near the Site and determined that contamination had not spread to neighboring properties. The State of Alabama will work with any future property owners to address any contaminated soil that potentially remains under the building’s concrete slab.
EPA hosted a public meeting on October 15, 2024, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Mission Baptist Church in Gadsden, AL to discuss the cleanup. Please review the U.S. EPA Techtrix, Inc. Cleanup Fact Sheet (pdf) - Hoja informativa sobre limpieza de Techtrix, Inc. de la EPA de EE. UU. (pdf) for more cleanup information. This PowerPoint was presented at the public meeting on October 15, 2024 to show the conditions inside the Techtrix, Inc. building. (pptx) Pictured in the PowerPoint video are vats of chemicals used in the electroplating process, containers that the hazardous waste is stored in and, lastly, security measures in place. Below are pre-and post-cleanup photos.
In March 2024, after the death of the property owner, the estate declared it could not complete required cleanup and closure actions. It then became necessary for EPA to assess the site for a cleanup. In July 2024, EPA conducted a site assessment, which included samples of the wastes and soil outside the facility. While EPA was preparing a removal plan, an emergency response was initiated in August 2024 after a follow-up site visit revealed a damaged tank was leaking and in danger of critically failing. The response action included emptying the tank of the contents, disconnecting utilities, and installing robust security measures which included twenty-four-hour security, fencing, and video cameras to ensure no trespassers entered the building and disturbed the material. Cyanide monitors were installed in the building and remotely monitored.
EPA mobilized a work crew in October 2024, and over the next 18 months, removed the wastes from the building. Activities included sampling the thousands of containers in the building, testing those samples to determine the waste types, organizing the various materials together by waste type, repackaging the containers for road transit, loading out the waste onto dozens of trucks for transport to waste disposal facilities, decontaminating the vats and all other on-site equipment, removing buried wastes from pits inside the building, excavating contaminated soil outside the building, and decontaminating the interior of the building before returning control of the property back to the estate of the deceased owner.
For more information, please contact:
- Community Involvement Coordinator, Marjorie Thomas, at thomas.marjorie@epa.gov
- On-Scene Coordinator, Chuck Berry, at berry.chuck@epa.gov
- On-Scene Coordinator, David Reed, at reed.david@epa.gov.
Questions for the Gadsden/Etowah County Emergency Management Agency should be directed to: ema@cityofgadsden.com.
For community members needing computer access to view the Site webpage, please visit the Gadsden Public Library branches at the addresses below:
Main Branch
254 South College Street
Gadsden, AL 35901
Genealogy Branch
2700 West Meighan Boulevard
Gadsden, AL 35904
A Community Involvement Plan (CIP) (pdf) was developed for the Techtrix, Inc. Site which specified EPA-planned community involvement activities to address community needs, concerns and expectations identified through community interviews and other means. The CIP provided the backbone of the community involvement program and was developed to serve as a useful reference that the Site Team could turn to during the cleanup for advice on appropriate activities for community involvement.
View the Administrative Record, which announces the time critical removal action and other Site-related documents.