EPA RCRA ID: MDD000215160
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
Multiple environmental investigations and remedial actions have been completed at the Facility since its acquisition from the Baltimore Paint and Chemical Company (Baltimore Paint). Multiple environmental investigations and remedial actions have been completed at the Facility since 1980. Many of these environmental actions were taken in response to conditions that were discovered during the removal of historical Underground Storage Tanks (USTs). Most significantly among these was the discovery of contamination during the April 18, 1986, removal of Baltimore Paint's TCA UST. The removal of the TCA UST led to early site investigation and subsequent remediation at the Facility. That work was completed pursuant to a Administrative Consent Order (C0-87-1 02), dated May 8, 1997, between Sherwin Williams and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). MDE provided regulatory oversight of the site investigation and remediation until March 17, 2005, when Sherwin-Williams entered into a Facility Lead Agreement (FLA) with EPA for the performance of a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Facility Investigation (RFI) and Corrective Measures Study (CMS). EPA identified fourteen (14) potential Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) and Areas of Concern (AOC) for investigation. RCRA investigations and Corrective Action activities have since been conducted under the Facility Lead Agreement.
On February 11, 2015, EPA issued a Statement of Basis (SB) in which it described the information gathered during environmental investigations at the Facility and proposed a Final Remedy for the Facility.
Consistent with the public participation provisions under RCRA, EPA solicited public comment on its proposed Final Remedy. On February 11, 2015, notice of the SB was published on the EPA website and in the Daily Record newspaper. The thirty (30) day comment period ended on March 13, 2015.
On April 7,2021, 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.
Since EPA did not receive any comments on the SB and EPA has determined it is not necessary to modify the proposed Final Remedy set forth in the SB based on the comment; thus, the remedy proposed in the SB is the Final Remedy selected by EPA for the Facility on March 31, 2015.
EPA's Final Remedy for the Facility consists of the following:
- Monitoring natural attenuation until drinking water standards are met
- Compliance with and maintenance of land and groundwater use restrictions
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.
The Sherwin-Williams Company facility is a 23-acre parcel in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, used since the 1940s to manufacture consumer and industrial products, primarily paints and other coatings. Prior to acquisition of the plant by The Sherwin-Williams Company in 1980, the plant was operated by the Artra Group, Inc. and by Baltimore Paint and Chemical Company. The plant is bounded on two sides by railroad tracks and industrial/commercial areas. Low-rise multifamily housing and Hollins Ferry Road border the property to the southeast and southwest. The parcel is fully developed and the plant is typically active around the clock. Engineered features of the property include building structures and process areas, indoor and outdoor raw materials above-ground storage tanks (ASTs), solvent separator tanks, rail car and tank wagon unloading/loading areas, and above-grade process piping lines. The plant is serviced by railcar and truck traffic although access is restricted by site security including an eight-foot fence topped with both razor and barbed wire and a 24-hour security force.
Groundwater contained residual levels of several compounds including, mainly, toluene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) (and breakdown compounds of 1,1-DCE, 1,1-DCA), benzene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), and trimethylbenzenes. Soil was impacted primarily with petroleum hydrocarbons including toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and 1,3,5 trimethylbenzene and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls include:
-
Monitoring natural attenuation until drinking water standards are met
-
Compliance with and maintenance of an EPA approved groundwater monitoring plan
-
Installation of a vapor intrusion control system in new structures constructed
above the contaminated groundwater plume or within 100-feet of the perimeter of
the contaminated groundwater plume -
Compliance with and maintenance of land and groundwater use restrictions
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) | |||
|
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.