EPA RCRA ID: VAD001705110
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.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action clean-up activities at the facility are implemented through the conditions and requirements of the facility's Hazardous Waste Management Permit for Site Wide Corrective Action (Permit), issued on April 5, 2002, and the facility's Corrective Measures Implementation Work Plan, approved on September 8, 2004.
Merck continues to operate and maintain bioventing remediation systems at Area of Concern (AOC) North and AOC South to reduce Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs) and Semi-volatile Organic Compound (SVOCs) in soil and groundwater. The remedy for AOC South includes a soil vapor extraction (SVE) component in addition to bioventing, but is currently not utilized due to the effectiveness of bioventing. In addition, Merck maintains a biosparge system at the Landfill AOC, but is performing a pilot test study using solid phase peroxide as a passive approach due to the formation of sinkholes directly related to biosparging. It is anticipated that final results of the pilot test will be available by the end of 2010.
Additionally, Merck continues groundwater sampling associated with Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) at the Skimmer Pond, Solvent Burning Pit, and Waste Pit SWMUs. However, in response to increasing VOC concentrations at the Skimmer Pond Merck is implementing a pilot test study to enhance biodegradation of VOCs by reductive dechlorination via groundwater amendment. This consists of extracting groundwater, amending the extracted groundwater with an emulsified soybean oil and bacteria culture, and re-injecting the amended groundwater back into the aquifer. During the pilot test, groundwater quality will be monitored in addition to select indicator parameters, VOCs, and SVOCs. It is anticipated that the pilot test will be implemented by the end of July 2010 and will take up to a year to complete.
On July 1, 1999 a Corrective Action Statement of Basis was issued with controls.
On September 3, 2015, the VDEQconducted a Long Term Stewardship assessment to assess whether the remedy was implemented and protective of human health and the environment. VDEQ determined that the remedy institutional and engineering controls have been fully implemented and no control deficiencies were identified.
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 Merck facility is located in northwestern Virginia, approximately two miles southwest of Elkton. The facility property lies within the Shenandoah Valley, just southeast of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. The facility occupies approximately 1,300 acres, of which 89 acres are used for active operation. The facility began operation in 1941. Prior to that, the land was undeveloped. The facility includes a pharmaceutical laboratory and manufacturing facilities, which produce animal and human health care products (pharmaceuticals). The facility is permitted to store hazardous wastes in containers and is currently in the Corrective Measures Implementation (CMI) phase of RCRA Corrective Action.
The facility is supported by a wastewater treatment plant, a solvent recovery operation, and a power plant with co-generation facilities. Additionally, there is an onsite, permitted, industrial landfill. The landfill occupies 7 acres located in the northeastern corner of the property. Prior to 1980 various production wastes, including organic and inorganic chemicals from the plant operations were disposed of in the landfill. The landfill was capped in 2000 as a required corrective measure and a deed notice was put in place identifying its location. Onsite groundwater flow is controlled by continuous production well pumping at the facility.
On June 15, 2010 and in response to increasing VOC concentrations at the Skimmer Pond, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ) approved the performance of a pilot test study for one year to evaluate the effectiveness of groundwater amendment activities in efforts of increasing reductive dechlorination of VOCs via introduction of emulsified soybean oil and cultured bacteria.
As part of Merck's Community Relations Plan, citizens' questions and concerns are addressed throughout the RCRA Corrective Action process via annual community information sharing sessions at the Elkton Elementary School. In addition, Merck regularly issues community newsletters highlighting remediation progress.
Contaminants at this Facility
The primary contaminants of concern in groundwater include benzene, chlorobenzene, chloroform, methylene chloride, naphthalene, trichloroethene, vinyl chloride, and vanadium. The constituents of concern in surface and subsurface soils include several VOCs and SVOCs.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls (IC) and Engineering Controls (EC) for the site include:
- IC: Prohibition on the use of groundwater for potable uses.
- IC: Site is only for non-residential use.
- EC: A hazardous waste cap was installed over the sanitary landfill which also has restrictions on future use or disturbance on the cap.
- EC: Site wide groundwater extraction system and the AOC (Area of Concern) North ( Skimmer Pond) also has a groundwater treatment system.
- EC: The AOC South has Soil Treatment 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) |
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.