OSWER/OSRTI 

Washington, DC 20460 

NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST (NPL) 

***Final Site*** September 2011 

US FINISHING/CONE MILLS Greenville, South Carolina 

Greenville County 

 Site Location: 

The former US Finishing/Cone Mills property is located at 3555 Buncombe Road approximately 3 miles north of 

downtown Greenville, South Carolina. The property is situated along the Reedy River, and is bordered to the east by 

Langston Creek and Highway 253, to the west by a residential neighborhood, to the north by Old Buncombe Road and to 

the south by the Reedy River. Two reservoirs utilized by the facility are located northeast of Buncombe Road (the northern 

reservoir) and northwest of the residential area (the northwestern reservoir). 

 Site History: 

The US Finishing/Cone Mills site, originally constructed in 1903 for Union Bleachery, was a textile, bleaching and 

finishing operation. In 1947, the plant was sold to Aspinook Corporation, which then became Cone Mills in 1952. Cone 

Mills prepared and dyed grey goods and other fabrics. American Fast Print, Ltd. (AFP) purchased the facility in May 1984 

and operated the plant under the name U.S. Finishing. The main portion of the 259-acre property consists of three 

buildings, including the approximately 400,000 square foot industrial building that includes a basement and two floors 

partially destroyed by a 2003 fire. The property also formerly housed seven caustic tanks with an estimated capacity of 

10,000 gallons each, a 13,500-gallon chromium storage tank and underground pipelines directing chromium to the storage 

tank and then delivering it to the facility. Several surface water impoundments are located or backfilled on the property, 

including an aeration lagoon, a former sludge settling lagoon; a former brine pit; and an impoundment on Langston Creek. 

A dump area is located in the Reedy River floodplain, south of the aeration lagoon. 

 Site Contamination/Contaminants: 

Chromium, ranging from 2,100 micrograms per liter (μg/L) to 4,400 μg/L, was detected in surface water and sediment 

within Langston Creek. State officials concluded that the point of discharge for the chromium was below the Langston 

Creek impoundment on the east side of the US Finishing/Cone Mills property. Ground water is contaminated with 

chromium, and the source was determined to be a break in the line supplying chromium from the storage tank to the 

facility. 

 Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment: 

Numerous areas of contamination still exist at the site, including the surface impoundments, surface and subsurface soil 

contamination, a ground water plume, and contaminated sediments in Langston Creek and the Reedy River. 

 Response Activities (to date): 

Several closure activities were conducted under state oversight. A ground water extraction and treatment system was 

installed in 1982, but has not been operational since the bankruptcy of the site owner. 

 Need for NPL Listing: 

The State of South Carolina referred the site to EPA because contamination remains at the site and because of the 

bankruptcy of the site owner. Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated, but are not viable at this time. EPA 

received a letter of support for placing this site on the NPL from the state. 

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change 

as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.] 

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 http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.