NPL Site Narrative for Firestone Tire &
Rubber Co. (Salinas Plant)

FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER CO. (SALINAS PLANT)

Salinas, California

Conditions at proposal (October 15, 1984): Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. operated a tire-manufacturing
plant in a rural area of Salinas in Monterey County, California, from 1965 until 1980. The site is comprised
of a 43-acre building on 256 acres of land.

Various chemicals were apparently spilled during the manufacturing process. Soil on the site is
contaminated with various volatile organic chemicals and zinc, according to analyses conducted by
Firestone. Ground water in the upper aquifer is also contaminated. The contaminants were discovered in
October 1983, when Firestone was closing the plant.

Firestone has removed contaminated soil and is working with State agencies to determine the full extent of
ground water contamination in the area.

About 500 acres of land within 3 miles of the facility are irrigated with ground water.

Status (June 10,1986): Under an Administrative Order issued by the State in 1985, Firestone agreed
to conduct (1) a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) to determine the type and extent of
contamination at the site and (2) certain remedial actions.

The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Salinas was first proposed for the NPL on October 15, 1984,
as part of Update #2. During the public comment period, a comment was received that questioned the
technical basis for evaluating the ground water migration score for the site. The commenter stated that a
drinking water well adjacent to the facility had been erroneously described as drawing water from the upper
aquifer. EPA evaluated the assertion and concluded that the commenter was correct. In fact, the well was
drawing water from the deeper aquifer. The score for this site has been re-evaluated completely using new
data. The site still scores above 28.50, the cutoff point on the Hazard Ranking System (HRS), which EPA
uses to evaluate sites for the NPL. EPA is extending the comment period on this site for an additional 60
days.

Status (July 22, 1987): The comments received during the additional comment period did not affect the
new HRS score. Hence, EPA is placing the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Salinas on the NPL.

Since February 1986, the company has been operating an on-site system to pump ground water to the
surface, treat it, and return it to nearby surface water. The RI/FS is underway.

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.

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