EPA RCRA ID: VAD005007679
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
Note: The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) is the lead agency for managing cleanups at this facility.
A Final Decision and Response to Comments (FDRTC) document was developed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and signed on January 22, 2026. The Final Corrective Active Remedy Decision requires the facility to conduct long-term groundwater monitoring and implement institutional and engineering controls. The controls include restricting groundwater use from beneath the property, residential use prohibition, notification signage, and maintaining covers on SWMUs 22, 23 and 25.
The facility’s final remedy is currently being implemented through an environmental covenant that meets the requirements of the Virginia Uniform Environmental Covenant Act (UECA). The covenant was recorded at the Giles County, Circuit Court Clerk’s office with the facility’s land deed on February 24, 2026.
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 |
|---|
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 Celanese facility is located at Route 460/3520 Virginia Ave, Narrows, VA 24124. The site is less than three miles east of the town of Narrows in Giles County. Most of the site is currently zoned as General Industrial District I-1 or Solid Waste Management Facilities District SWM-1.
The site is 1,332 acres and is divided into two major areas, the Plant Area and the Landfill Area, which are separated by Route 460. The site is bounded by the New River to the south and east and a local mountain range known as Hemlock Ridge to the north.
The facility has been in operation since 1939 and manufactures fiber-based products including cellulose-acetate flake and filter tow, which is used to make cigarette filters. Prior to the start of Celanese activities, the Plant Area was utilized as agricultural land including tilled crops and an apple orchard.
The facility manages its manufacturing waste via disposal or treatment in on-site landfills, wastewater treatment operations, surface impoundments, regeneration/recycling and off-site treatment and disposal facilities. Most of the solid waste is disposed in on-site non-hazardous landfills permitted under the Virginia Solid Waste Management Regulations. A small portion of its solid waste is shipped off-site for disposal. Conversion of the plant from coal-fired to natural gas-fired boilers occurred in 2015. CCB from the boiler operations was a generated waste stream prior to 2015.
The site is a large quantity generator (LQG) (VA005007679) of hazardous waste. Because Celanese complies with the less than 90-day generator requirements, it does not have or need a permit to treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste. Since 2009, Celanese stages drums of hazardous waste in the Dope Preparation Department which are destined for disposal.
Contaminants at this Facility
The contaminants of concern (COCs) in groundwater include various VOCs, SVOCs, and metals. The contaminants of concern in soil include various VOCs, SVOCs, metals, PCBs, and PFOS.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Land use restrictions prohibiting residential use are required. Additionally, a site-wide groundwater use restriction is imposed.
The engineering controls consists of covers on SWMU 25 (former fire training area), SWMU 22 (former white sludge pond A), and SWMU 23 (white sludge disposal area B/C). Additionally, notification signs are required around the perimeter of SWMUs 22, 23, and 25.
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) | |||
| Governmental Controls (GC) | ||||
| Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) | ||||
| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | ||||
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) | |||
Non-Groundwater | ||||
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.