United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5502G)
EPA520-F-93-010
Summer 1993
£ EPA Superfund At Work
Hazardous Waste Cleanup Efforts Nationwide
Site Description:
A chemical manufacturing plant close
to downtown Nitro, West Virginia
Site Size; 11.9 acres
Primary Contaminants:
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
dioxin, cyanide, asbestos, metals and
methylmercaptan
Potential Range of Health Risks:
Direct contact with affected soil and
water could result in cardiovascular
and respiratory distress; cyanide
poisoning can be deadly
Nearby Population Affected:
25,000 people within 10 miles
Ecological Concerns:
The Kanawha River is located 2,000
feet west of the site
Year Listed on NPL: 1983
EPA Region: 3
State: West Virginia
Congressional District: 3
Site investigators found hundreds of leaking storage tanks, chemical wastes
dumped into unlined lagoons, and thousands of corroded and leaking storage drums.
Success In Brief
EPA Defuses A Toxic Time Bomb
At Fike/Artel Chemical Site
The Fike/Artel Chemical site in Nitro, West Virginia, was a sprawl-
ing chemical production facility where a composite of highly toxic and
potentially explosive contaminants had been dumped. Because of the
danger to the surrounding community and environment, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stabilized the contaminants
and designed a comprehensive cleanup plan for this complex site.
Emergency actions included safely detonating a cylinder of deadly
hydrogen cyanide gas, and treating and removing 5,000 drums of J
hazardous waste and dozens of cylinders of toxic corrosive gases. In
addition, EPA's Superfund staff: . '
Developed separate cleanup strategies for five different operable
units at the site;
Negotiated with site polluters to conduct the cleanup;
Stabilized or removed additional wastes in on-site tanks; and
Addressed community concerns through an active community
relations program.
This site is a good example of how EPA's Superfund program responds
to emergency situations by taking quick actions as well as cleaning up
large volumes of hazardous waste.
The Site Today
To date, EPA has eliminated
immediate threats to the sur-
rounding community, and
completed studies to address one
operable unit at the site. Con-
^ struction has begun to support
| upcoming cleanup activities.
Comprehensive studies of
contamination in the remaining
|f areas are under way. EPA is ,
planning to negotiate with the
'- waste generators and former
owners and operators for a long-
term commitment to restore the
soil and ground water.
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Superfund At Work Fike/Artel Chemical, Nitro, WV Summer 1993
The Fike/Artel Chemical site
spans almost 12 acres in Nitro,
West Virginia. The surround-
ing area is industrial and
residential; 8,000 people live
within one mile and 25,000
people live within 10 miles. The
Kanawha River, a tributary to
the Ohio River, runs 2,000 feet
west of the site.
The site is situated on a
World War I munitions plant.
In 1951, Roberts Chemical
began developing and produc-
ing customized chemicals there.
In 1971, the site was re-
named Fike Chemical, Inc.
(Fike). From 1971 to 1976, Fike
produced specialty chemicals
for different companies, and
placed production wastes in
drums or unlined lagoons on
site. In addition, a variety of
other chemicals were improp-
erly stored in tanks that ulti-
A Site Snapshot
mately leaked into the soil.
The site had 300 storage
tanks containing acids, bases,
flammables, and cyanides. An
estimated 5,000 storage drums,
"The plant [was] an
inferno of rusting vats,
pipes shedding
their insulation, and
hundreds of oil drums"
many of them buried, con-
tained approximately 100,000
pounds of metallic sodium. In
addition, a pressurized tank
with approximately 9,000
gallons of methylmercaptan and
approximately 8,000 laboratory
containers (one gallon or
smaller) were also found on site.
Of the site's appearance one
reporter wrote, "the plant is an
inferno of rusting vats, pipes
shedding their insulation, and
hundreds of oil drums, their
contents marked on them in
spray-painted letters. The
equipment hisses and gives off
steam and a variety of pungent
odors" (The Charleston Gazette).
The site contamination is
extensive. The ground water,
surface water, and soil all contain
a variety of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), dioxin,
polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs), cyanide, asbestos,
metals and methylmercaptan.
The Kanawha River is contami-
nated as well.
Direct contact with these
substances could result in
cardiovascular and respiratory
distress as well as central ner-
vous sytem disorders. Cyanide
poisoning can be deadly.
Page 2
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Superfund At Work Fike/Artel Chemical, Nitro, WV Summer1993
Chemical Company Owners
Resist EPA and State Orders to Clean Up Site
In 1975, the Cooperative Sew-
age Treatment Company (CST), a
joint venture of Fike and Coastal
Tank Lines, was constructed to
treat industrial wastewater result-
ing from site operations. The CST
facility occupied less than one
acre, but consisted of three la-
goons, tanks, and sludge drying
beds that were used to contain
and treat the wastewater.
Stormwater drainage and
contaminated water from the
chemical processing area were
carried to CST by drainage
ditches and a World War I-era
sewer system. The wastewater
was treated, although insuffi-
ciently, and the effluent was
discharged into the Kanawha
River. As a result, in 1976, Fike
was cited by the West Virginia
Fike/Artel Chemical
Nitro, West Virginia
Department of Natural Resources
(WVDNR) for numerous viola-
tions of the Clean Water Act.
In 1978, WVDNR ordered
the company to dean up
their sewage and filtration
systems, and to
seal off the con-
taminated la-
goons. Fike
refused to
comply with
this order.
Because of
the volatile
nature and massive
quantity of contaminants at the
site, WVDNR asked EPA to
investigate the site in November
1979. In 1980, Congress enacted
Superfund legislation to address
the nation's abandoned or uncon-
trolled hazardous waste sites.
Under this new authority, EPA
began investigating the site.
In August 1982, after complet-
ing a preliminary assessment,
EPA began comprehensive stud-
ies to deter-
mine the
extent of the
contamination.
In November, Fike
was ordered to dike and
pave the areas, cover the main
waste disposal area, and treat
the contaminated water. Fike did
not comply. So in September 1983,
EPA placed the site on the National
Priorities List (NPL), the nation's
roster of hazardous waste sites
eligible for cleanup with federal
funds.
Fike/Artel Chemical
Site Timeline
* Fike secures site, but permit violations cont
Stte added to NPL <(
* EPA orders Fike to address contamination <
* Fike does not comply ]
> EPA begins preliminary investigations
WVDNR orders cleanup of sewage, filtration, lagoons
does not comply
* WVDNR fines Rke for Clean
Water Act violations
* Roberts Chemical renamed
Fike Chemical
1
Specialty chemicals manufactured on site
1051
1971
PageS
* A
1976
1978
1980
1982 1!
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Superfund At Work
Fike/Artel Chemical, Nitro, WV
Summer 1993
In early March 1984, EPA
ordered Fike to secure the site
from public access, and Fike
complied. For the remaining
months of 1984, EPA issued
several orders to Fike to address
violations of their permit to accept
and store hazardous waste. Fike
EPA's Emergency
Response Team
began efforts
to move materials
posing the
most immediate threats
failed to comply and so its permit
was revoked in 1985. The com-
pany paid a $5,000 fine for the
violations.
Violations Continue
Despite New Ownership
In May 1986, the company was
purchased by Artel Chemical Co.
(Artel). The former owner of Fike
stayed on as the site manager,
however, and the violations
continued. In both June and
September 1986, WVDNR in-
spected the site and found that
company personnel had been
mishandling and improperly
treating the wastes on site. The
state fined Artel $165,000 for these
violations, but Artel did not pay
the fine. In January 1987, WVDNR
ordered the company to inventory
site wastes, and develop a plan to
identify and manage on-site wastes.
In May 1987, EPA and Artel
entered into negotiations to dean
up the site but were unable to
reach an agreement. In June 1988,
Artel stopped paying its employ-
ees and abandoned the site. The
materials left behind posed
an immediate and substantial
endangerment, and so WVDNR
asked EPA to take over responsi-
bility for the site.
EPA subsequently divided
the site into five distinct project
areas, called operable unite,
to more effectively address the
contamination. Due to the history
of non-compliance at this site,
EPA decided to conduct the
immediate cleanup and to recover
the costs from the owners, opera-
tors and waste generators at a
later date.
continued on page 5
> Rke permit revoked
/»iPAfinesfite$i,000
r
Site purchased by Artel Chemical Co.
WVDNR tints Artel $165,000
/ Negotiations with Artel collapse
r
'Artel abandons site
EPA removes drum, storage (ante, hydrogen cyanide cylinder
Cleanup erf plant equipment and chemicals (planned)
r>. Cleanup of soil and ground water (planned)
1985 1986 1987 1988 1993 1997
1999 2003
Page 4
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Superfund At Work Fike/Artel Chemical, Nitro, WV
Summer 1993
Owners Resist EPA and State Orders
continued from page 4
EPA Defuses
An Explosive Situation
On June 11,1988, workers from
EPA's Emergency Response
Team identified a steel cylinder
containing deadly hydrogen
cyanide gas that could explode if
disturbed. Workers evacuated
approximately 2,500 members of
the community before destroying
the cylinder. EPA specialists
Workers evacuated
2,500 residents
before destroying
a cylinder of deadly
hydrogen cyanide gas
placed explosive charges on the
cylinder to cut it into three sec-
tions. The detonation simulta-
neously burned off the hydrogen
cyanide gas.
In July, EPA's Emergency
Response Team began efforts to
remove materials that posed the
most immediate threats, includ-
ing the drums and the storage
tanks. Throughout the summer,
workers removed approximately
5,000 drums, drained the storage
tanks and removed the contami-
nated wastes.
Beginning in August 1988, two
of the responsible parties also
began removing wastes from the
site. American Cyanamid re-
moved a railcar of sulfuric acid
and about 9,600 gallons of
methylmercaptan in spring 1989.
Union Carbide removed about
55,000 pounds of sodium.
Following efforts to locate
other waste contributors, EPA
negotiated the cleanup of oper-
able unit two, which requires
dismantling and removing a
former processing facility. The
Flames from a controlled explosion burned off the
dangerous hydrogen cyanide gas
Explosive
charges
disintegrate
steel cylinder)
containing
impact in
mound
Soil mounded
over canister
Sandbags piled
on mound to
contain explosion
responsible parties have agreed
to do the work. Remedial actions
for operable unit two are sched-
uled to begin in the summer of 1993.
Workers Face
Future Challenges
Despite EPA's emergency
actions, workers now estimate
that they will not be finished until
after the year 2000. The third and
fourth operable units pose distinct
long-term challenges. The objec-
tive of operable unit three is to
excavate and dispose of an esti-
Other cleanup activities
address soil and
ground water
contamination
mated 7,000 to 16,000 buried
drums and containers and incin-
erate them off site. This excavation
will prevent any risk to workers
during future site activities.
Operable unit four will address
the soil and ground water con-
tamination, and operable unit five
will consist of cleaning up CST's
wastewater treatment facility.
Cleanup workers are studying
both areas to determine the best
cleanup strategy. EPA plans to
dismantle the CST facility once all
of the other contamination has
been addressed.
Negotiations are ongoing for
operable unit three; EPA antici-
pates initiating negotiations for
operable units four and five in the
near future.
Page 5
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Superfund At Work
Fike/Artel Chemical, Nitro, WV
Summer 1993
Community Relies on
"the Experts" to Remedy Situation
Many residents of Nitro work
at chemical manufacturing com-
panies in the area, and expressed
concern that EPA's action at the
Fike/Artel Chemical site would
lead to closures of other nearby
facilities.
Unlike these other companies,
the Fike/Artel Chemical site had
been seriously mishandled by its
owners. EPA assured Nitro resi-
dents that facilities in compliance
with environmental regulations
would not face closure. When
asked about EPA's involvement at
the site, both residents and local
officials stated that they were
"relying on the experts" to rem-
edy the situation.
EPA's program to keep the
public informed included:
issuing regular fact sheets; hold-
ing open meetings at which the
progress at the site was discussed;
holding press briefings; and
opening a local information
repository for site documents.
For additional copies of this or other
Superfund At Work updates, contact the
National Technical Information Service,
U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port
Royal Road, Sprmgfield,VA 22161,
telephone (703) 487-4650.
If you wish to be added to or deleted from
our mailing list or to comment on this
bulletin's content, length or format, please
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Superfund At Work (5502G),
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vvEPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
5502G
Washington, D.C. 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
Success at
Fike/Artel
Chemical
The immediate danger
has been eliminated, and
EPA is continuing studies to
determine the full extent of
the soil and ground water
contamination. A long-term
cleanup of the site will be
necessary. The responsible
parties have agreed to
dismantle a former process-
ing facility and are currently
negotiating to remove
thousands of additional
buried drums. EPA is work-
ing to recover its costs for
emergency operations from
the responsible parties.
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