Superfund Sites in Reuse in Alabama
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35TH AVENUE
The 35th Avenue Superfund site is in North Birmingham, a historic residential district in Birmingham, Alabama. Several industrial facilities are also on-site. In the past, contaminated material from local industries was used in residential areas and at other properties to fill in low-lying areas prone to flooding, creating health risks. The EPA proposed adding the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 2014. Cleanup activities include excavation of contaminated soil at residential properties and backfilling with clean fill and topsoil. Cleanup and sampling activities are ongoing. To date, the EPA has cleaned up over 650 properties. Continued site uses include residential, commercial, industrial and public service areas. In 2013, the Northern Birmingham Community Coalition formed and collectively disbanded in August 2016. Prior to disbanding, it met with many community-based organizations and resource partners and developed the Northern Birmingham Revitalization Action Plan in 2015. The plan serves as a guide for community redevelopment, with a focus on affordable housing, neighborhood services and health care.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA did not have economic data related to on-site businesses, or economic data were not applicable due to site use. For additional information click here.
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AMERICAN BRASS INC.
The 148-acre American Brass Inc. (ABI) Superfund site is in Headland, Alabama. It consists of two parcels separated by a railroad track. The northern parcel includes the 24-acre area where ABI ran a secondary brass smelter and foundry from 1978 to 1992. The southern parcel included the waste pile where ABI disposed of ball mill residue. Operations resulted in soil, sediment and groundwater contamination. In 1996 and 1998, EPA led two removal actions, taking the ball mill residue waste off-site for disposal. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1999. Final cleanup activities took place in 2008 and 2009. They included the excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil and sediment. An environmental covenant placed on the property in 2019 restricts the use of groundwater. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing. The northern part of the site is vacant. Farmers grow peanuts and other crops on the southern half of the site. The site owner is currently looking to redevelop the site into an RV park and is going through the legal process of rezoning the site.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA did not have economic data related to on-site businesses, or economic data were not applicable due to site use. For additional information click here.
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ANNISTON PCB SITE (MONSANTO CO)
The Anniston PCB site (Monsanto Co) consists of a 70-acre chemical manufacturing facility and surrounding properties as well as downstream waterways and floodplains in Anniston, Alabama. Swann Chemical began producing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 1929. In 1935, the Monsanto Company (Monsanto) purchased the business. In 1997, ownership of the facility transferred to Solutia, a company created by Monsanto. When Monsanto ran the facility, it disposed of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes in several areas, including landfills next to the facility. Surface water containing PCBs and other contaminants flowed into ditches and waterways downstream. EPA’s Superfund program became involved at the Site in 1999. EPA did not add the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) although it is an NPL-caliber site. EPA is addressing the site through the Superfund Alternative Approach. EPA, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and the site’s potentially responsible parties (PRPs) are working to address the contamination. To date, cleanup has included capping parts of the facility area and the landfill, groundwater treatment and institutional controls. Remedy construction for these activities finished in 2018. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing. A remedy is being designed for residential and non-residential areas around the facility that includes excavation and offsite disposal of floodplain soil, capping of soil, groundwater treatment, and sediment dredging. Commercial and industrial properties, including the Solutia facility, remain active on-site.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA did not have economic data related to on-site businesses, or economic data were not applicable due to site use. For additional information click here.
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CAPITOL CITY PLUME
The Capitol City Plume site is in Montgomery, Alabama. It includes a large area of soil and groundwater contamination near Montgomery’s public water supply well field. Primary contaminants include chemicals commonly used in dry cleaning, commercial printing and machine parts cleaning. EPA proposed adding the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 2000. The city worked closely with EPA and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) to assess groundwater contamination and develop a cleanup plan. Cleanup activities include removal of contaminated soil and groundwater monitoring. The city passed an ordinance in 2003 to prohibit groundwater use at the site. In 2010, the city planted 2 acres of poplar trees that take up contaminants from shallow groundwater and break them down. The city used EPA Superfund Redevelopment Program (SRP) funding to investigate reuse options and coordinate with EPA on the site’s future use. Riverfront redevelopment, including the Riverfront Amphitheater and Conference Complex, has helped revitalize downtown Montgomery. Continued site uses include commercial, residential, recreational and industrial areas. In 2020, EPA withdrew the site’s NPL listing proposal. ADEM oversees ongoing cleanup and monitoring activities.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA had data on one on-site business. EPA did not have further economic details related to this business. For additional information click here.
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CIBA-GEIGY CORP. (MCINTOSH PLANT)
The 1,500-acre Ciba-Geigy Corp. (McIntosh Plant) Superfund site is in an industrial area 2 miles northeast of McIntosh, Alabama. The Olin Corp. (McIntosh Plant) Superfund site borders it to the south. Starting in the early 1950s, the plant made several types of chemicals and products, including pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and plastics additives. Operators improperly disposed of waste in several unlined pits and open landfills. Before 1965, they also sent wastewater into the Tombigbee River. An EPA investigation in 1982 found that site activities had contaminated soil, sediment, sludge and groundwater. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1984. Initial cleanup actions began in 1985. They included the removal and treatment of contaminated surface water and groundwater and the closure of surface impoundments and landfills. Ciba-Geigy Corporation stopped making agricultural chemicals in 1999. It shut down herbicide and insecticide production in 2003. EPA-led cleanup activities began in 1989. They included continued extraction and treatment of contaminated groundwater, excavation of soils and sediment, treatment and disposal of contaminated sludge and soil, land and groundwater use restrictions, a below-ground barrier wall to divert groundwater contamination, and a sand cover of about 42 acres of a floodplain. In 2008, EPA updated its long-term cleanup plan to include a sand cover to act as a barrier between birds and contaminated areas. EPA’s cleanup plan is compatible with continued industrial use. In 2009, BASF Corporation acquired the site property. Today, it runs a chemical production facility on-site. It also leases part of the property to a nearby plastics manufacturing business. EPA issued a plan that changed the soil/sediment cleanup levels from risk-management based cleanup levels to risk based cleanup levels; and changed the fish tissue performance standards contained in earlier cleanup plans for DDTR. The plan also modified the Remedial Action Objectives (RAOs) for protection of surface water and reduction of risk for ecological receptors exposed to DDTR present in Ciba OU-3 media An optimization study by EPA in 2020 found that the site has not attained groundwater cleanup standards, but it is unlikely that the plume will migrate beyond the site property boundary. BASF Corporation is developing source characterization plans for potential source areas and putting them in place. In 2023, BASF Corporation submitted a focused feasibility study to address more contamination in catch basins, stormwater conveyances, upstream drainage ditches and floodplains. EPA is reviewing the document. EPA will issue an additional cleanup plan for more cleanup in 2024.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA had data on 2 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 557 people and generated an estimated $1,010,300,000 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
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GULF STATES STEEL/BLACK CREEK
The 760-acre Gulf States Steel/Black Creek site is in Gadsden, Alabama. Gulf States Steel began operating at the site in 1986. Other entities ran the facility from 1902 to 1986. Gulf States Steel made steel plates, hot and cold rolled steel sheets, galvanized steel sheets and other steel products. There are four waste oil lagoons on-site. Operators used these unlined surface impoundments to reclaim waste oil from wastewater generated by steel finishing processes. In 1999, Gulf States Steel filed for bankruptcy. Gadsden Industrial Park acquired about two-thirds of the site’s acreage at bankruptcy auction. A time-critical removal action in 2007 stabilized and closed waste oil lagoons and dismantled and decontaminated a coke plant and powerhouse on-site. EPA’s Superfund Redevelopment Program provided reuse planning support at the site in 2010. Today, site uses include Gadsden Industrial Park, a metal foundry and a waste management company. Plans call for the extension of the Black Creek Greenway Trail, a 5-mile multi-use trail, along the eastern edge of the site.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA did not have economic data related to on-site businesses, or economic data were not applicable due to site use. For additional information click here.
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INTERSTATE LEAD CO. (ILCO)
The 11.5-acre Interstate Lead Co. (ILCO) Superfund site is in Leeds, Alabama. From 1970 to 1992, ILCO ran a lead battery recycling and lead smelting business at the property. Operators at the main facility disposed of processing wastes in piles around the property. Facility operations contaminated groundwater, sediment, soil and surface water. In 1983 and 1984, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) led site inspections. In 1985, state and federal agencies sued ILCO for improperly disposing of waste on the property. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1986. The ILCO facility shut down in 1992 and EPA began cleanup. The cleanup addressed contaminated soil and groundwater at the main facility and satellite locations and in nearby waterways. ILCO has since taken over cleanup, with EPA and ADEM supervision, and cleanup activities at the site are ongoing. The main facility is vacant and fenced. Land restrictions put in place limit future land and groundwater use. ILCO and the Interstate Trucking Company, an affiliated company, still own the main facility and one satellite location, a former parking lot across the street. The former ILCO parking lot has no structures and is now a wetland. Land at other satellite locations support many uses, including homes, a metal fabricator, a church and a gas station. The city of Leeds also operates a landfill on-site.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA had data on 2 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 15 people and generated an estimated $7,356,000 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
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OLIN CORP. (MCINTOSH PLANT)
The 1,150-acre Olin Corp. (McIntosh Plant) Superfund site is near the Tombigbee River in McIntosh, Alabama. Olin Corporation runs a chemical manufacturing facility on-site. It has been active since 1952. Until 1974, the facility disposed of wastewater in the Tombigbee River. It also put waste in on-site landfills, ponds, plant areas and a drainage ditch. These activities resulted in groundwater contamination. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1984. Cleanup included extraction and treatment of groundwater and upgrading a landfill cap. Cleanup also includes monitoring and maintenance of other landfill areas. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing. Land and groundwater use restrictions are in place and a fish consumption advisory is in effect for part of the Tombigbee River near the site. EPA issued additional cleanup plans in 2014 and 2024 to address remaining contamination in the Olin Basin and Round Pond, a wastewater ditch leading to the basin and surrounding floodplains that flood seasonally due to proximity to the Tombigbee River. EPA completed an assessment of groundwater contamination and determined that more cleanup action is needed. Olin Corporation is working on source characterization for potential source areas. Since 2021, EPA has provided oversight of fieldwork done by Olin Corporation and BASF Corporation to design an engineered cap in the Olin Basin and Round Pond; evaluate other cleanup actions needed for the wastewater ditch and surrounding floodplains. In 2024, EPA issued a cleanup plan to treat and stabilize soils and sediments in the wastewater ditch and cap the floodplain area. Cleanup is ongoing. Olin Corporation continues to operate its chemical manufacturing facility on-site. A natural gas storage facility is also on-site. A new boat ramp allows for large watercraft and the loading of materials onto barges for cleanup. A new bridge facilitates better access to the basin, wastewater ditch and floodplain areas for cleanup. Recreation areas on-site include a baseball field.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA had data on 3 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 225 people and generated an estimated $432,468,000 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
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PERDIDO GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION
The 110-acre Perdido Ground Water Contamination Superfund site is near the intersection of highways 47 and 61 in Perdido, Alabama. In 1965, a train derailed, spilling benzene into the ditch along Highway 61. In 1981, the Alabama Department of Public Health documented reports of odors in residents’ drinking water wells. Sampling confirmed benzene contamination in groundwater. Seaboard System Railroad, now CSX Transportation, the site’s potentially responsible party (PRP), volunteered funds to extend a water line 6 miles from the town of Atmore to the site. The water line connected about 150 Perdido homes within a mile of the derailment to the public water system. The PRP completed the water line in 1983. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. Cleanup activities included pumping and treating contaminated groundwater. Cleanup goals have been met. There are no restrictions on site uses. EPA took the site off the NPL in 2017. It remains in continued residential use. Public service facilities on-site include a U.S. Postal Service office, churches and a fire department. A business specializing in resale merchandise is also on-site.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA had data on 6 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 14 people and generated an estimated $370,899 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
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STAUFFER CHEMICAL CO. (COLD CREEK PLANT)
The 220-acre Stauffer Chemical Co. (Cold Creek Plant) Superfund site is in Bucks, Alabama. The Stauffer Chemical Co. (LeMoyne Plant) Superfund site is next to the site. The site includes the area where Stauffer Chemical Company (Stauffer) operated an agricultural chemical manufacturing facility from 1966 until 2008. Operations contaminated groundwater, sediment and soil. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1984. EPA, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., the site’s potentially responsible party (PRP), investigated conditions and took steps to clean up the site to protect people and the environment from contamination. Cleanup activities include groundwater extraction and treatment, soil excavation and treatment and cap construction and maintenance. Groundwater and cap performance monitoring are ongoing. In 2010, Syngenta demolished the chemical manufacturing facility. Institutional controls in place restrict groundwater use and protect the integrity of the remedy. Contamination does not threaten people living and working near the site. A water line connects homes and businesses to the public water supply. A rail line crosses the site. Ecological resources include several small ponds, a swamp, and a pollinator habitat.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA did not have economic data related to on-site businesses, or economic data were not applicable due to site use. For additional information click here.
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STAUFFER CHEMICAL CO. (LEMOYNE PLANT)
The 730-acre Stauffer Chemical Co. (LeMoyne Plant) Superfund site is in Axis, Alabama. The Stauffer Chemical Co. (Cold Creek Plant) Superfund site is next to the site. The Stauffer Chemical Company opened a chemical manufacturing facility on the LeMoyne Plant site in the 1950s. From 1965 to 1979, improper waste disposal on-site contaminated soil, sediment, and groundwater in nearby Cold Creek Swamp. Waste also contaminated fish in Cold Creek Swamp and caused high concentrations of mercury in fish tissue. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1984. Site investigations and cleanup activities address the contamination source and the extent of contamination of groundwater, surface water and sediment in Cold Creek Swamp. Cleanup included a groundwater treatment system and a cap over 17.5 acres of contaminated soil. Post-cap monitoring has revealed additional areas that require capping on-site. Investigations are underway to address other areas of contamination that continue to pose environmental risks. EPA continues to work with the owner, Nouryon, and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to address persistent contamination in underlying groundwater from carbon disulfide and carbon tetrachloride. The Alabama Department of Public Health placed a fish advisory on Cold Creek Swamp and the Mobile River for mercury. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing. A chemical plant remains active on-site.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA had data on 2 on-site businesses. These businesses employed 244 people and generated an estimated $207,906,494 in annual sales revenue. For additional information click here.
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TRIANA/TENNESSEE RIVER
The Triana/Tennessee River Superfund site is in Huntsville, Alabama. It consists of an 11-mile stretch of the Huntsville Spring Branch and Indian Creek (HSB-IC) tributaries of the Tennessee River. The Olin Corporation ran a DDT pesticide manufacturing plant on-site from 1947 to 1971. Waste handling practices resulted in contamination of soil, sediment, surface water and fish. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. Olin Corporation, the site’s potentially responsible party (PRP), led cleanup actions in 1987. They included burying contaminated sediments, rerouting a stream channel, digging a new stream channel and putting in water diversion structures. Long-term fish monitoring took place annually from 1988 to 2015. Wetlands border the site. Recreational fishing and boating take place on-site. Parts of the 11-mile HSB-IC surface water pathway are in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (the Refuge) and the Redstone Arsenal Superfund site. Created in 1938, the Refuge provides habitat for endangered species such as the gray bat, whooping crane and other migrating birds. Redstone Arsenal is home to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command and other defense-related agencies. A final fish sampling event will take place in 2027.
Last updated September 2024
As of December 2023, EPA had data on 2 on-site businesses. EPA did not have further economic details related to these businesses. For additional information click here.
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