OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460



## N ATIONAL 

## P RIORITIES 

## L IST 

## (NPL)

***Final Site *** September 2012 

### A

LABAMA PLATING COMPA NY, INC. Vincent, Alabama Shelby County  **Site Location :**  The Alabama Plating Company , Inc. (APC) site is located approximately one mile northeast of Vincent, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 231 and County Highway 60, about 25 miles east-southeast of Birmingham, Alabama.

 **Site History:** From 1956 to 1996, APC operated an electroplating and hot

- dip galvanizing facility at the 6 acre site. Wastewater and

s ludge generated from these processes contained a range of inorganic contaminants (metals) and was discharged into onsite lagoons and a drainage ditch which flows to Spring Creek. In 1986, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) ordered AP C to cease all discharge of wastewater, clean up the discharge ditch and determine the extent of ground water contamination. In 1987, APC closed three wastewater treatment lagoons. Partial and inadequate clean up responses continued through the early 1990s. Galvanizing operations continued until 1996. Currently the s ite is

vacant

.

 **Site Contamination/Contaminants:**
Site

- related contaminants including arsenic, cadmium, cyanide, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc have been found in sludge, soil and se diment at the s ite. At the time the surface impoundments were closed (1987), they contained almost 10,000 cubic yards of RCRA hazardous sludge and contaminated soils. Ground water beneath the APC site remains highly contaminated by metals, including lead, cadmium, chromium, cyanide and mercury.

 **Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment :**  Ground water from the s ite drains into two adjoining creeks which have wetland frontage. The unna med stream flows an estimated 3 to 4 mile s to Spring Creek, which is a fishery and tributary of the Coosa River, loc ated about 2 miles east of the

s ite. Ground water use within a 4

- mile radius of the s ite includes a municipal water supply operated by the Vincent Water Works (VWW), which obtains its water from four sp rings located northwest of the site. Water from the springs is pumped to a collection point that is located about 0.5 mile southwest of APC. VWW provides water to approximately 2,916 people. While there have been no detections of site

- related hazardous s ubstances in the raw water supply to date, the threat to this water supply remains because of local geologic conditions (karst terrain ).

 **Response Activities (to date):** In 1999, the EPA began a Superfund time

- crit ical removal action at the APC s ite to ad dress visible surface soil contamination, lagoon sludge, abandoned hazardous waste, buildings and debris. During excavation activities, the EPA uncovered many drums and other containers throughout the property. The EPA removed and disposed of more than 46, 000 tons of non

- hazardous soil, 11,000 tons of hazardous soil, 165 tons of zinc dross, 3,100 tons of cyanide

- saturated soil, 135 tons of cadmium-saturated soil, and various othe r hazardous materials from the s ite

.

 **Need for NPL Listing:** The EPA proposed the s ite for addition to the NPL in 2000. Site ground water needs to be controlled in order to prevent the continued contamination of wetlands, fisheries and the Coosa River, and threats to the local water supply. Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated, but are not viable at this time. The EPA received a letter of support from Alabama for the EPA’s cleanup plan, which includes placing this site on the NPL

.

[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 o f exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. AT SDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet

at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/index.asp or by telephone at 1

- 888

- 42

- ATSDR or 1

- 888

- 422

- 8737.