EPA RCRA ID: PAD000606285
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
In November 1989, Former Site Owner, Hercules , entered into a Consent Order and Agreement (COA) with PADEP to address areas of groundwater contamination. Due to subsequent studies, an interceptor trench was constructed at the lower plant to prevent contaminated groundwater from seeping into the Monongahela River. This trench is called the Lower Plant Interceptor Trench (LPIT) and has been in operation since 1990 with an extension performed in 1997. A second interceptor trench was installed under the unnamed tributary running through the site to abate groundwater contamination and seeps entering the tributary. This trench is called the Under Creek Interceptor Trench (UCIT) and was installed in 1995.
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 Eastman Plant is located on Route 837 between the intersections with Madison Avenue and Jones Street in West Elizabeth, Jefferson Borough, Pennsylvania. It is situated along the west bank of the Monongahela River adjacent to Lock and Dam Number 3. The majority of the site is developed with paved roadways, buildings, process equipment, and above ground storage tanks.
The plant was constructed in 1950 by the former Pennsylvania Industrial Chemical Corporation (PICCO) as an extension of the PICCO Resins Plant. In 1973, Hercules acquired all facilities, assets, and liabilities of PICCO. Hercules expanded operations in the early 1980’s with the purchase of a neighboring property including the current warehouse that was constructed in 1952. After a joint venture with Sanyo, Hercules sold the Jefferson Plant to Eastman Chemical resins, a subsidiary of Eastman Chemical Company on May 1, 2001.
Hydrocarbon resin production began in 1954. Little is known about the operations during this time period until Hercules ownership. The Jefferson Plant, during the period owned by Hercules and now as Eastman, converts petroleum-based raw materials into different hydrocarbon resins, intermediates, and co-products that are utilized in the adhesives, graphic arts, rubber, and photocopy industries.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
The need for Institutional Controls is yet to be determined.
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) |
||
|
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 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.