NPL Site Narrative for Rinchem Co., Inc. RINCHEM CO., INC. Albuquerque, New Mexico Rinchem Co., Inc., formerly operated on a 1/2-acre site at 5001 Edith Boulevard NE in Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico. Rinchem distributed industrial solvents and resins, and also transported, treated, and disposed of industrial wastes from 1979 to 1983. Rinchem moved operations to another location in December 1983. Currently, the property is occupied by Janco Sheet Metal Co., which reportedly uses no hazardous materials in its operations. Rinchem typically transported hazardous waste from a waste generator's location to its facility, repackaging the waste or storing it until a larger quantity was accumulated and transporting the waste back to the generator or to a disposal facility. Rinchem stored wastes on-site in drums. The facility also had two 5,000-gallon above-ground storage tanks used to contain any hazardous waste spilled during loading and unloading of drums. In March 1984, the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division (NMEID) found 800 drums on-site (400 empty, 400 containing various organic chemicals). The tanks, however, had been removed. NMEID analyses of soil from the tank area and a natural collection basin detected acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, tetrachloroethene, toluene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethene, xylenes, and methylene chloride. Acetone, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethene, 1,1,1-trichloroethene, and dichloroethene are present in on-site monitoring wells, according to a 1988 NMEID report. The Valley, or Basin Fill, Aquifer is the principal aquifer in the Albuquerque area. Approximately 140,000 persons obtain drinking water from City of Albuquerque wells and 17 private wells within 4 miles of the site. A private well is within 0.2 mile of the site. This site is being proposed for the NPL because Rinchem has lost Interim Status under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and relocated and because the current owner of the contaminated property is not subject to RCRA. Thus, the site satisfies a component of EPA's NPL/RCRA policy. 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 ATSDR - ToxFAQs (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/index.asp) or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737. ------- |