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Region 4 Hazardous Site Investigations
Test Results
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- CERCLIS Database Facilities
- Risk Management Plan Facilities
- Tier II Facilities
- Toxic Release Inventory Facilities
- Sonford Products - CERCLIS Database Facility
- Chemfax, Inc.- CERCLIS Database Facility
- DuPont DeLisle - Pass Christian, Mississippi - RMP Facility
- Chevron Pascagoula, First Chemical, Mississippi Phosphates - Pascagoula, Mississippi
- Omega Protein - Moss Point, Mississippi - TRI Facility
- Port Bienville Industrial Park (Polychemie, Inc.) - Pearlington, Mississippi - TRI Facility
- Ershigs Fiberglass, Inc. - Biloxi, Mississippi - TRI Facility
- Reports on methodology and analysis: Sonford Products and Chemfax, Inc. (PDF) (178 pp, 5.6 MB, About PDF) | All other sites listed above (PDF) (365 pp, 7.7 MB, About PDF)
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf coast of the southeastern United States, causing unprecedented damage from eastern Louisiana to near Mobile, Alabama, due to the high winds and storm surge. During the week of October 3, 2005, the USEPA Region 4, Science and Ecosystem Support Division (SESD) collected soil and sediment samples near facilities in the affected areas in Mississippi to determine if flooding from the storm surge released hazardous constituents and materials. The facilities being investigated are located in the storm surge impacted portions of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties in Mississippi. Soil and sediment samples were collected from RMP (Risk Management Plan), Tier II, TRI (Toxic Release Inventory) facilities and sites listed in EPA’s CERCLIS database which includes National Priority List (NPL) sites and sites being considered for the NPL. This investigation was requested by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the USEPA, Region 4, Waste Management Division.
CERCLIS Database Facilities
The CERCLIS Database is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) (http://cfpub.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/srchsites.cfm) that contains information on hazardous waste sites, potentially hazardous waste sites and remedial activities across the nation. The database includes sites that are on the National Priorities List (NPL), being considered for the NPL, or deleted from the final NPL.
Risk Management Plan Facilities
When Congress passed the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, it required EPA to publish regulations and guidance for chemical accident prevention at facilities using extremely hazardous substances. The Risk Management Program Rule (RMP Rule) was written to implement Section 112(r) of these amendments. The rule, which built upon existing industry codes and standards, requires companies of all sizes that use certain flammable and toxic substances to develop a Risk Management Program, which includes: 1) a hazard assessment that details the potential effects of an accidental release, an accident history of the last five years, and an evaluation of worst-case and alternative accidental releases; 2) a prevention program that includes safety precautions and maintenance, monitoring, and employee training measures; and 3) an emergency response program that spells out emergency health care, employee training measures and procedures for informing the public and response agencies (e.g the fire department) should an accident occur.
Tier II Facilities
Tier II facilities are covered by The Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) and must submit an emergency and hazardous chemical inventory form to the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) and the local fire department annually. Facilities provide either a Tier I or Tier II form. Most States require the Tier II form. Tier II forms require basic facility identification information, employee contact information for both emergencies and non-emergencies, and information about chemicals stored or used at the facility.
Toxic Release Inventory Facilities
Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) requires EPA and the States to annually collect data on releases and transfers of certain toxic chemicals from industrial facilities, and make the data available to the public in the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). In 1990 Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act which required that additional data on waste management and source reduction activities be reported under TRI. The goal of TRI is to empower citizens, through information, to hold companies and local governments accountable in terms of how toxic chemicals are managed.
EPA’s conclusions regarding the potential impact of the hurricane on these sites are based on a comparison of post-hurricane data to available past sample data collected during facility investigations or routine monitoring activities. In addition, the results were compared to EPA Region 9 Preliminary Remediation Goals (PRGs) to determine if conditions at the sites might represent previously unrecognized risks to human health and the environment. EPA Region 9 PRGs (available at: https://www.epa.gov/region9/waste/sfund/prg/index.html) are conservative risk-based concentrations based on long-term exposures in either a residential or commercial/industrial setting. They are considered by EPA to be protective for people (including sensitive groups) over a lifetime. The PRGs are not clean up standards, but used to assist EPA scientists and others in initial screening-level evaluations of environmental measurements.
Sonford Products
CERCLIS Database Facility
From 1972 to 1975, Sonford Products and Sonford International operated at the site producing liquid formulations from solid pentachlorophenol. Various solvents and lindane were utilized. Extensive EPA sampling has shown high levels of contamination in soil, groundwater, surface water and sediments. Contaminants of concern include pentachlorophenol, dioxin, arsenic, lead, toxaphene and lindane. This site is currently being evaluated to determine whether it is eligible for the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) listing.
Three sediment samples were collected and analyzed for metals, extractable organic compounds, pesticide/PCBs and dioxins. Detections of lead in sediment samples were below residential screening values, however arsenic and benzo(a)pyrene exceeded residential preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) but fell within a risk range of 1 in 1,000,000 to 1 in 10,000 risk over background of an individual developing cancer over a lifetime from exposure to those concentrations, which EPA has found acceptable in other contexts. Levels of pentachlorophenol were below PRGs. The dioxin/furan analyses for these three sediment samples showed that detected concentrations were well within the same range of reported levels from pre-hurricane sampling.
Based on these sampling results, EPA does not believe the site was impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
View results | Download data | Full report describing methodology and analysis for this site (PDF) (178 pp, 5.6 MB, About PDF)
Chemfax, Inc.
CERCLIS Database Facility
Chemfax, Inc. was established in March, 1955 and produced synthetic hydrocarbon resins and waxes from petroleum products. The primary operation at the time the business ceased in 1995 was a paraffin blending process in which different grades of paraffin wax were heated together to a liquid state, then blended. The site is proposed for the National Priority List (NPL).
Four sediment samples were collected across four transects of the Bernard Bayou at locations likely to have been impacted by a release from site. Acetophenone was the only extractable organic compound detected and was reported at a concentration of 96 ug/kg in one sample. Acetone was the only volatile organic compound identified in the four samples and was present at concentrations less than 20 ug/kg. Detected concentrations for both compounds were below residential preliminary remediation goals (PRGs).Based on these sampling results, EPA does not believe the site was impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
View results | Download data | Full report describing methodology and analysis for this site (PDF) (365 pp, 7.7 MB, About PDF)
DuPont DeLisle - Pass Christian, Mississippi
RMP Facility
The DuPont-DeLisle plant is a titanium dioxide manufacturing operation located on Bay St. Louis, in the community of Pass Christian, Mississippi.
Three surface soil and two sediment samples were collected at five locations. These samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), pesticides/PCBs, and metals. Low levels of metals, VOCs, pesticides, and SVOCs were detected in samples. No PCBs were reported.
From a comparison with sampling conducted pre-hurricane Katrina there is no clear and consistent pattern of increased contamination levels. None of the reported analytes exceeded preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for an industrial exposure scenario on site, or residential PRGs in the vicinity of residential development northeast of the facility.
The five locations discussed above were resampled and analyzed only for dioxin/furans. None of the three surface soil samples exceeded residential PRGs in the vicinity of the residential development. One of the two sediments samples exceeded the industrial PRG but fell within a risk range of 1 in 1,000,000 to 1 in 10,000 risk over background of an individual developing cancer over a lifetime of exposure to those concentrations, which EPA has found acceptable in other contexts.
Based on these sampling results, EPA does not believe the site was impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
View results | Download data | Full report describing methodology and analysis for this site (PDF) (365 pp, 7.7 MB, About PDF)
Chevron Pascagoula, First Chemical, Mississippi Phosphates - Pascagoula, Mississippi
The Chevron Pascagoula, First Chemical, and Mississippi Phosphates facilities are adjacent to each other and sampling was thus conducted around these facilities as a unit. Therefore, the results presented for each of these sites are identical.
Three surface soil and seven sediment samples were collected at ten locations. These samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), pesticides/PCBs, metals, and radionuclides. Several metals were detected, along with low concentrations of VOCs, pesticides, and SVOCs. No PCBs were reported in these samples.
Several metals exceeded pre-hurricane concentrations; however these elevated concentrations were detected in sediments in a ditch that is part of a solid waste management unit on site property that was previously known to contain elevated metals concentrations and were the site of previous industrial activity. There were no levels for Ra226 or any other radionuclide that exceeded expected background levels. Maximum detected levels of arsenic and chromium exceeded preliminary remediation goals (PRGs), but fell within a risk range of 1 in 1,000,000 to 1 in 10,000 risk over background of an individual developing cancer over a lifetime from long-term exposure to those concentrations, which EPA has found acceptable in other regulatory and remedial contexts.
Based on these sampling results, EPA does not believe the site was impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
Chevron – Pascagoula,
RMP Facility
The Pascagoula Refinery was built in the early 1960’s and went into operation in
1963. The Facility is owned by Chevron U.S.A, Inc. and is operated by ChevronTexaco
Products Company, a division of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. The Refinery property consists of
approximately 3,000 acres. A total of 1,000 acres have been developed industrially. The
refinery is ChevronTexaco’s largest with a refining capacity of 325,000 barrels per day.
An expansion to 360,000 barrels per day was underway when Hurricane Katrina struck
the facility.
First Chemical,
RMP Facility
First Chemical Corporation (FCC) has operated since 1967, manufacturing
numerous and sundry chemicals. Shallow groundwater at the site has been impacted by various contaminants; predominantly aniline, benzene, nitrobenzene, and toluene.
Mississippi Phosphates,
Tier II Facility
Mississippi Phosphates Corporation is located at 601 Highway 611 Pascagoula,
MS. More than 900,000 tons of the fertilizer, diammonium phosphate (DAP), are produced at the complex each year. Data from Region 4 indicated a leak of anhydrous ammonia from an above ground storage tank. This is a large facility that had the potential to release hazardous constituents beyond its’ operational perimeter.
View results | Download data | Full report describing methodology and analysis for this site (PDF) (365 pp, 7.7 MB, About PDF)
Omega Protein - Moss Point, Mississippi
TRI Facility
Information about this facility is limited but the site was investigated to determine whether there were any impacts from Hurricane Katrina.
Three sediment samples were collected at three locations. These samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), pesticides/PCBs, and metals. Low concentrations of several metals were detected, along with several reported low concentrations of SVOCs. One PCB was reported. No VOCs were reported. None of the reported analytes exceeded preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for exposure to contaminants under a commercial/industrial scenario.
Based on these sampling results, EPA does not believe the site was impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
View results | Download data | Full report describing methodology and analysis for this site (PDF) (365 pp, 7.7 MB, About PDF)
Port Bienville Industrial Park (Polychemie, Inc.) - Pearlington, Mississippi
TRI Facility
Information about this facility is limited but the site was investigated to determine whether there were any impacts from Hurricane Katrina.
Two surface soil and three sediment samples were collected at five locations. These samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), pesticides/PCBs, and metals. Low levels of several metals were detected, along with low levels of ten SVOCs, a few VOCs, and pesticides. No PCBs were reported for these samples.
Arsenic and benzo(a)pyrene exceeded the preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) but fell within a risk range of 1 in 1,000,000 to 1 in 10,000 risk over background of an individual developing cancer over a lifetime from long-term exposure to those concentrations, which EPA has found acceptable in other regulatory and remedial contexts. None of the remaining analytes detected in soil or sediment exceeded industrial PRGs.
Based on these sampling results, EPA does not believe the site was impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
View results | Download data | Full report describing methodology and analysis for this site (PDF) (365 pp, 7.7 MB, About PDF)
Ershigs Fiberglass, Inc. - Biloxi, Mississippi
TRI Facility
Information about this facility is limited but the site was investigated to determine whether there were any impacts from Hurricane Katrina.
Three surface soil and two sediment samples were collected at five locations. These samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), pesticides/PCBs, and metals. Low concentrations of several pesticides and SVOCs were reported. No VOCs or PCBs were reported.
Arsenic exceeded residential preliminary remediation goals (PRGs), however all detections were within a risk range of 1 in 1,000,000 to 1 in 10,000 risk over background of an individual developing cancer over a lifetime from long-term exposure to those concentrations, which EPA has found acceptable in other regulatory and remedial contexts. None of the other analytes exceeded residential PRGs.Based on these sampling results, EPA does not believe the site was impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
View results | Download data | Full report describing methodology and analysis for this site (PDF) (365 pp, 7.7 MB, About PDF)