EPA RCRA ID: PAR000030874
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Facility Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Status
After prior removals of hazardous wastes and contaminated soils and several groundwater investigations at the former ICI Explosives USA Inc. facility, the final remedy is complete and consists of institutional controls to eliminate exposures to any contamination remaining on-site. These controls require deed notices barring residential or residential-type land uses of the Facility property and prohibiting groundwater use.
The Facility received a release of liability from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (PADER) through Pennsylvania's Act 2 program for two of the four parcels at this site, in September 1998, and January 2002. The other two parcels did not seek release of liability under Act 2. EPA's Final Decision of Corrective Action Complete with Controls for the Facility became effective September 28, 2007.
EPA issued a Final Decision on September 28, 2007, requiring only "no potable groundwater uses" and "non-residential land use" language in the deed. This requirement was previously implemented. No further corrective action was required.
On September 26, 2016 , the EPA conducted a Long Term Stewardship assessment to assess whether the remedy was implemented and protective of human health and the environment. EPA determined that the remedy institutional and engineering controls have been fully implemented and no control deficiencies were identified.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. It is not intended as an extensive list of milestones/activities. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table and the Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility table that follows, 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 |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The Tamaqua plant was originally built in 1906 by the Potts Powder Company to produce dynamite and blasting powders. Atlas Powder ("Atlas") was formed in 1912 as a result of an antitrust suit by the United States against E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company that forced the breakup of du Pont's explosive business into three companies: DuPont, Hercules Powder and Atlas. Atlas bought the Potts Powder Company in 1912 and expanded the Tamaqua plant to make all grades of dynamite and detonators. The Tamaqua facility is sometimes called the Reynolds facility.
Atlas Powder changed its name to Atlas Chemical Industries Inc. in 1961. In 1971, Atlas was merged into Imperial Chemical Industries and became ICI America. However, due to antitrust objections to the merger raised by the United States, ICI America sold part of the Tamaqua facility in 1973, approximately 2620 acres, consisting of the dynamite, nitroglycerin, and blasting supplies businesses, to Tyler Industries, which formed a “new” Atlas Powder Company. The remaining assets at Tamaqua, approximately 103 acres, comprised a portion of the Aerospace Components Division, a subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries, and did business as ICI America (the name change to ICI Americas occurred in 1977) or ICIA herein.
Imperial Chemical Industries PLC Group repurchased the explosives business from Tyler in 1990 and established it as a wholly owned subsidiary, ICI Explosives USA, Inc. or EUSA herein. In 2001, ICI Explosives USA Inc. changed its name to E-One Holdings and transferred its assets, including the Tamaqua property, into a newly created subsidiary known as Expert Management, Inc. (EMI). In 2003, ICIA was also consolidated under EMI. The total plant property for Tamaqua was about 2,741 acres.
The ICIA and EUSA operations at Tamaqua ceased between 1996 and 1998. In order to expedite investigation, clean-up and potential resale of the property, EUSA was divided into four parcels: Corona, Wakefield, Project Riverdale and an unnamed clean parcel that had not been impacted by industrial activity. The ICIA property is known as Project Woodlawn throughout the document submissions. All of the property has been sold or transferred to other parties as follows:
About 227 acres, the “Wakefield” area (formerly EUSA), was sold to Copperhead Chemical on January 4, 1999.
Contaminants at this Facility
The risk assessment for Wakefield showed that none of the Constituents of Interest were at a level of concern for non-residential uses of the property.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls restrict groundwater use to non-potable and non-agriculture uses and also land use to non-residential use for the entire facility.
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) |
Documents available on-line: |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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
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.