News Releases from Region 04
EPA to Host Public Meeting for the Proposed Listing of the Rockwell Grenada Site in Grenada, Miss., to the NPL
Public comments sought through Mar. 19, 2018
ATLANTA (January 30, 2018) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the former Rockwell International Wheel & Trim site in Grenada, Miss., to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is a list of sites that require further action to protect human health and the environment. EPA will host a public meeting to explain the NPL process. The public is also invited to comment on the proposal during a 60-day comment period.
What:
Public meeting for the Rockwell Grenada site proposal to the NPL
When:
Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where:
Lewis Johnson Senior Citizen Complex, 299 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Who:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)
***Press Availability – 5:15 to 5:45 p.m.: Representatives of EPA and MDEQ will answer questions. Members of the media should RSVP to marraccini.davina@epa.gov.
The Rockwell Grenada site includes the 40-acre facility at 635 Highway 332 (commonly called Grenada Stamping and currently operated by Ice Industries), and other areas where site-related contaminants have migrated or were disposed. Rockwell International, followed by Textron Automotive and later by Grenada Manufacturing, operated a wheel cover manufacturing and chrome plating facility on the property from 1966 to the early 2000s. In 2005, portions of the plant were leased to Ice Industries, which continues to operate a metal stamping plant there today.
Past operations, spills and waste handling practices resulted in air, groundwater, surface water and soil contamination. The solvent trichloroethene (TCE) has been found in the air inside the manufacturing building, groundwater beneath the site and in the adjacent Eastern Heights neighborhood, a former disposal area associated with the facility, wetlands and Riverdale Creek.
EPA has been overseeing the cleanup of the Rockwell Grenada site under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act program, and is now proposing to manage the cleanup under Superfund authorities. EPA’s priority is a comprehensive approach that addresses all contamination related to the former operations at the facility and in the surrounding community.
On Dec. 29, 2017, a treatment system to reduce elevated levels of TCE inside the Grenada Stamping facility was restarted under an EPA removal action. Removal actions are short-term responses intended to protect people from risks or potential risks associated with contaminated sites. The treatment system is operating with EPA oversight and monitoring.
Adding the site to the NPL will allow EPA to conduct a comprehensive assessment of all the risks to public health and the environment, and take the necessary cleanup actions. Only sites added to the NPL are eligible for receive federal funding for long-term cleanup.
Public comments on the proposal of the Rockwell Grenada site to the NPL may be submitted through Monday, Mar. 19, 2018. All comments must include the docket number EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0608. Comments may be submitted online at www.regulations.gov or mailed to: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; EPA Superfund Docket Center; Mail Code 28221T; 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW; Washington, DC 20460.
Federal Register notices and supporting documents for proposed sites can be found at: www.epa.gov/superfund/current-npl-updates-new-proposed-npl-sites-and-new-npl-sites
For information about the proposed Rockwell Grenada site: www.epa.gov/superfund/rockwell-intl-wheel
For information about Superfund and the NPL: www.epa.gov/superfund
Connect with EPA Region 4 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4
And on Twitter: @EPASoutheast
