EPA RCRA ID: MDD003093507
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. Corrective action is a requirement under RCRA that facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes, or did so in the past, investigate and clean up hazardous releases into soil, groundwater, surface water and air. For more information, and for more information on RCRA-specific terms used on this page, please visit EPA’s umbrella RCRA web page or EPA’s RCRA Corrective Action page.
On this page:
- Cleanup Activities
- Facility Description
- Institutional/Engineering Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Activities
The EPA is the lead agency for cleanups at this facility.
The Facility completed environmental investigations for on-Site soil and groundwater and preliminary off-Site contamination in Colgate Creek and in July 2017 submitted the results to EPA and MDE in the RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) Report. EPA and MDE accepted the RFI with comments. In September 2018, the Facility submitted an evaluation of clean-up/remedy alternatives in the Corrective Measures Study (CMS), which also addressed EPA and MDE’s RFI comments. EPA and MDE the CMS and selected a final remedy after a public comment period that ended in August 2019. The final remedy addresses on-Site soil and groundwater contamination. Construction of the on-Site remedy will begin after EPA and MDE approve construction design and permits are obtained. Sediment contamination in Colgate Creek will be addressed after further investigation in 2020 to 2021.
Contaminants of concern are principally metals. Arsenic, barium, cadmium and lead exceeded MDE and EPA screening levels in surficial and subsurface soil in the southern industrial portion of the site. In groundwater, aluminum, barium, cadmium, lead and zinc exceeded MDE groundwater screening levels in boundary wells along Colgate Creek. Colgate Creek sampling results indicate that more sediment sampling is necessary to fully delineate impacts.
On August 26, 2019, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected the Final Remedy for RCRA Corrective Action for the on-site portion of the Former Millennium Specialty Chemicals property (Facility) in Baltimore, MD. EPA 's Final Remedy consists of: (1) installation of an engineered cover/cap over exposed soil; (2) a stormwater system upgrade; (3) creek bank stabilization; (4) monitored natural attenuation ofmetals in groundwater within Facility boundaries, which constitutes the technically impracticable boundary for groundwater clean-up, and (5) land and groundwater use controls. The Final Remedy is based on EPA's findings as detailed in the Statement of Basis.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
Millennium Specialty Chemicals manufactured paint pigments at the St. Helena Facility from 1921 to 2005. Amorphous silica gel was produced from 1969 to 2006. The Facility declared bankruptcy in 2006 and ceased operations in 2007. By 2008, Site structures were demolished and removed, and the Site surface leveled. Paint pigment production included zinc and cadmium lithopone, cadmium pure, titanium dioxide and other inorganic pigments. The Site is currently fenced and unused, with asphalt covering much of the surface, with some unpaved, vegetated areas. The property will be conveyed to a new owner for redevelopment.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional and Engineering Controls for restricting land and groundwater use are part of the final remedy for this Site.
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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Governmental Controls (GC) |
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Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | |||
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Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.