Greenwood Chemical Superfund Site £
Removal Action
Greenwood, Albemarle County, Virginia
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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY - REGION 3
August 2004
New Activity at the Greenwood Chemical
Site...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
will remove potentially hazardous chemicals from
the Greenwood Chemical Superfund Site ( "site")
located on State Rte 690 in Greenwood, Virginia.
In June 2004, EPA began short-term removal
activities, in addition to the on-going long-term
cleanup efforts, to address some of the remaining
materials left on-site. The additional removal
activity is expected to be completed by the end of
2004.
Removal actions will include:
•	Disposing of remaining laboratory chemicals,
•	Removing old disposal lagoons,
•	Removing contaminated and potentially-
contaminated surface soil, and
•	Replacing soil with clean fill.
What you may notice...
Workers may be wearing protective clothing such
as, coveralls, hardhats, gloves, and air masks. Air
masks may be worn to protect workers from
breathing onsite dust during soil removal work.
You may see heavy equipment, such as trucks,
traveling on and off site to remove contaminated
soils and carry in clean fill. EPA uses protective
measures, such as water spraying, to help keep dust
from moving off site or off the trucks. Heavy trucks
will be traveling up Newtown Rd. We are working
to ensure the safety of the residents in the area by
restricting the times the trucks will be traveling and
their speed. The Virginia Department of
Transportation has mowed the roadside for
increased visibility, the School Boards have been
notified, as have the county police. Please continue
to drive carefully during this project and talk to your
children about the trucks. We anticipate truck
traffic to start the week of September 7-10th and
continue for 2-3 months.
Why and What are we Cleaning Up...
Various containers with old lab chemicals still exist
onsite and will be removed and properly disposed.
The containers are sealed, however they contain
chemicals with volitile organic compounds ( VOCs)
and semi-VOCs, which may be health hazards.
Trace amounts of these lab chemicals have been
found, as well as elevated amounts of arsenic and
cyanide, in the lagoon sludge. Inorganic arsenic has
also been detected in the surface soil onsite.

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Health studies have shown that both cyanide and
arsenic are hazardous substances. Because these
materials are a potential risk to human health and the
environment, EPA will close the lagoons by first
draining the water, then excavating the sludge and
replacing it with clean fill. EPA will also remove
surface soils that will be replaced with clean fill.
For more information on health risks associated with
these chemicals, visit the Agency for Toxic
Substance and Disease Registry website at
www.atsdr.cdc.gov
Background...
•	The Greenwood Chemical Superfund Site is
an 18-acre site which produced chemicals for
industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and
photographic processes from the 1940s until
1985.
•	In 1986, several deteriorated drums, both at
the surface and buried, were identified along
with waste water treatment and disposal
lagoons.
•	Over 600 drums were removed and long-term
cleanup efforts began with the construction of
an on-site surface water and groundwater
collection and treatment system.
•	EPA has been and will continue to routinely
perform sampling of nearby residential wells,
which have remained clean to date.
•	EPA continues to coordinate with the
Virginia Department of Transportation, local
schools system, and other local authorities to
ensure the safety of local residents during the
project.
For More Information...
If you have questions about this project, please
contact:
•	Myles Bartos
EPA On-Scene Coordinator
(215) 814-3342
•	Eric Newman
EPA Remedial Project Manager
(215) 814-3237
•	Trish Taylor
EPA Community Involvement
Coordinator
(215) 814-5539 or (800) 553-2509
For more information on this site, please visit
www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/VA/greenwood-
chem/index.htm
For more information on health-related
questions, please visit www.atsdr.cdc.gov

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