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EPA SUPERFUND REMOVAL UNDERWAY AT THE CHEMFAX SITE, GULFPORT, HARRISON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

Release Date: 07/16/1999
Contact Information: Dawn Harris, EPA Press and Media Relations

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has begun a Superfund hazardous substance removal at the Chemfax site, Gulfport, Harrison County, Mississippi. A removal is a short-term cleanup intended to stabilize or clean up a site that poses an imminent and substantial threat to human health or the environment. The removal is taking place under the authority and direction of the Agency’s Emergency Response and Removal Branch (ERRB).

The removal will include:

restriction of site access;

removal and disposal of asbestos insulation on boilers and pipes;

inventory, analysis, and preparation of drums, tanks, and miscellaneous containers;

transportation and disposal of hazardous substances and contaminated debris; and

excavation and disposal of contaminated soils.

The removal is expected to be completed by December 1999 at an estimated cost of $1,800,000.

The Chemfax site is located in a predominately industrial and commercial area. The facility is an inactive, abandoned facility that manufactured synthetic hydrocarbon resins and waxes from 1955 to 1995.

ERRB conducted a site assessment on January 26, 1999 that involved the inventory, mapping, and sampling of the tanks, drums, and waste piles on the site. A removal action was proposed due to the presence of approximately 1,000 drums and 30 aboveground storage tanks of hazardous substances including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, styrene and methylene chloride. Other contaminants of concern include a wide variety of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (anthracene, fluorene, methylnapthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene) and metals (arsenic and chromium).

Persons interested in obtaining additional information are encouraged to contact Sherryl A. Carbonaro, Community Relations Coordinator, at 404-562-8742 or 1-800-564-7577.