v>EPA
United Stales
Environmental Protection
Agency
**
*Proposed Site
National Priorities List (NPL)
***
OSWER/OSRTI
Washington, DC 20460
March 2011
US FINISHING/CONE MILLS
Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville County
(?) Site Location:
The former US Finishing/Cone Mills property is located at 3555 Buncombe Road approximately 3 miles north of
downtown Greenville, South Carolina. The property is situated along the Reedy River, and is bordered to the east by
Langston Creek and Highway 253, to the west by a residential neighborhood to the north by Old Buncombe Road, and to
the south by the Reedy River. Two reservoirs utilized by the facility are located northeast of Buncombe Road (the northern
reservoir) and northwest of the residential area (the northwestern reservoir).
Site History:	
The US Finishing/Cone Mills site, originally constructed in 1903 for Union Bleachery, was a textile and bleaching
finishing operation. In 1947, the plant was sold to Aspinook Corporation, which then became Cone Mills in 1952. Cone
Mills prepared and dyed grey goods and other fabrics. American Fast Print, Ltd. (AFP) purchased the facility in May 1984
and operated the plant under the name U.S. Finishing. The main portion of the 259-acre property consists of three
buildings, including the approximately 400,000 square foot industrial building that includes a basement and two floors
partially destroyed by a 2003 fire. The property also formerly housed seven caustic tanks with an estimated capacity of
10,000 gallons each, a 13,500-gallon chromium storage tank, and underground pipelines directing chromium to the storage
tank and then delivering it to the facility. Several surface water impoundments are located or backfilled on the property,
including an aeration lagoon, a former sludge settling lagoon; a former brine pit; and an impoundment on Langston Creek.
A dump area is located in the Reedy River floodplain, south of the aeration lagoon.
1 Site Contamination/Contaminants:	
Chromium was detected in surface water and sediment within Langston Creek ranging from 2,100 micrograms per liter
(|Jg/L) to 4,400 |Jg/L. State officials concluded that the point of discharge for the chromium was below the Langston
Creek impoundment on the east side of the US Finishing/Cone Mills property. Ground water is contaminated with
chromium, and the source was determined to be a break in the line supplying chromium from the storage tank to the
facility.
rtft Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment:	
Numerous areas of contamination still exist at the site, including the surface impoundments, soil and subsurface soil
contamination, a ground water plume, and contaminated sediments in Langston Creek and the Reedy River.
^ Response Activities (to date):	
Several closure activities were conducted under state oversight. A ground water extraction and treatment system was
installed in 1982, but has not been operational because of the bankruptcy of the site owner.
B Need for NPL Listing:	
The State of South Carolina referred the site to EPA because contamination remains at the site and because of the
bankruptcy of the site owner. Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated, but are not viable at this time.
EPA received a letter of support for placing this site on the NPL from the state.
[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change
as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.]
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these
substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet
at http://www.atsdr.cdc. gov/toxfaq .html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.

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