EPA Proposes Removing C&R Battery Site from List of Nation’s Most Contaminated Sites

PHILADELPHIA (April 4, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it is seeking comments on the proposed deletion of the C&R Battery Company, Inc. Superfund Site in Chesterfield County, Virginia, from the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is a list of the nation’s most contaminated hazardous waste sites.

EPA deletes sites or parts of sites from the NPL when no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment. Years, and sometimes decades, of complex investigation and cleanup work have gone into getting these sites to the point where they can be deleted from the NPL.

“Deletions from the NPL can revitalize communities, raise property values, and promote economic growth by signaling to potential developers and financial institutions that cleanup is complete,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “This can be especially impactful for communities with environmental justice concerns.  We’re happy to propose this site to be deleted from the National Priorities List because it means that EPA has followed through with its promise to clean up this site and protect human health and the environment.”

The 11-acre C&R Battery Company site is located near the James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Between the early 1970s and 1985, C&R Battery Co., Inc. used the site to dismantle batteries from cars, trucks and commercial applications in order to recover lead and lead oxide. The process involved cutting open batteries and draining acid into on-site ponds. These practices contaminated soil, sediment and surface water with lead and other hazardous chemicals.

EPA oversaw the Potentially Responsible Parties (PRP’s) cleanup of the site contamination.  Cleanup activities included:

• Excavation of lead-contaminated soil and sediment, collecting it into solid form, and stabilizing the contaminated soil and sediment.
• Disposal of the stabilized material in a nearby solid waste landfill.
• Site grading.
• Placement of clean topsoil over the entire site and replanting greenery at the site.

As a result of the clean-up, there are no releases from the site to groundwater or nearby surface water. The James River wetlands, an area approximately three miles downstream typically used for recreational purposes, were determined to be free of site contaminants as well.

In 2017, EPA concluded that the acidity of groundwater at the site is consistent with background conditions and that groundwater monitoring is no longer required. Land use restrictions are in place to ensure the continued protectiveness of the remedy.

Based on monitoring data collected, EPA determined that the response at the C&R Battery Site is complete and as a result, the site has been proposed for deletion from the NPL.

EPA published a Federal Register Notice on March 31, proposing to delete all or part of 10 sites from the NPL. There will be a public comment period through May 2. The agency plans to publish another notice with additional final and proposed deletions this fall.

To comment, visit: http://www.regulations.gov, Docket #  # EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0798