News Releases from Region 04
EPA Schedules Public Meeting for the Burlington Industries Cheraw Site in Cheraw, S.C.
ATLANTA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public meeting at Long Middle School on June 1, 2017, at 6 p.m. to discuss activities at the Burlington Industries Cheraw Site located in Cheraw, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
EPA signed an action memorandum for a removal action at the Burlington Industries Cheraw Site and will begin the initial phase of this removal by addressing contaminated surface soils at six residential yards. Soils with levels of contaminants that exceed EPA’s cleanup criteria will be removed and transported off-site to an approved disposal facility. Additionally, the EPA will address play structures and sand from Huckleberry Park, which has been closed since August of 2016.
WHO: EPA Region 4
WHAT: Public Meeting
WHEN: June 1, 2017 at 6 p.m. EST
WHERE: Long Middle School, 1010 West Greene St. in Cheraw, SC 29520
The Burlington Industries Cheraw Site consists of the former Burlington Industries, Inc. facility property as well as 3.2 miles of surface water drainage from the facility to the Pee Dee River and the adjacent parcels along the pathway. Part of the former Burlington Industries, Inc. facility is currently owned by Highland Industries, Inc. (a division of Takata Corp.). Adjacent properties to the surface water drainage corridor include private residences and public lands. These include 37 occupied private residences and Huckleberry Park (a 2.7-acre public park with playground equipment for children).
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) investigated a property in a residential neighborhood which was once owned by Burlington Industries and held wastewater solids drying beds. During this investigation, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found in surface soils. Subsequent sampling events found PCBs in the surface and subsurface soil of adjacent residential lots, the former Burlington Industries property, sediments along the surface water corridor, and public and private properties downstream. The EPA Region 4 Superfund Site Evaluation Section reviewed and approved the Site Inspection submitted by DHEC in September 2016. Based on the high concentrations of PCBs at the Site, DHEC requested that the EPA Region 4 Emergency Response, Removal and Prevention Branch conduct the Removal Site Evaluation.
For more information, contact EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Stephanie Y. Brown (877) 718-3752 mailto:Brown.StephanieY@epa.gov
EPA Administrator Pruitt has prioritized Superfund cleanup as part of his effort to refocus EPA on its intended mission. Under his leadership, EPA will look for ways to streamline and improve the Superfund program, with a focus on identifying best practices with regional Superfund programs, reducing the amount of time between identification of contamination at a site and determination that a site is ready for reuse, encouraging private investment at sites during and after cleanup, and realigning incentives of all involved parties to foster faster cleanups. In underscoring this renewed focus, Administrator Pruitt said, “I am making it a priority to ensure contaminated sites get cleaned up. We will be more hands-on to ensure the proper oversight and attention to the Superfund program at the highest levels of the Agency, and to create consistency across states.”
On May 22, 2017 Administrator Pruitt announced a Superfund Task Force to provide recommendations for streamlining the Superfund program
Connect with EPA Region 4 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4
And on Twitter: @EPASoutheast
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