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Pemaco Maywood 

NPL Site Narrative for Pemaco Maywood 

PEMACO MAYWOOD 

Maywood, California 

Federal Register Notice: January 19, 1999

Conditions at Proposal (July 28, 1998): Pemaco Maywood is a four-acre facility that housed a 

chemical blending facility operated by Pemaco, Inc. between the late 1940s and 1991. Hazardous 

chemicals stored at the facility in underground and aboveground storage tanks and drums included 

chlorinated and aromatic solvents, flammable liquids, petroleum hydrocarbons, and other volatile 

organic compounds. There were 31 underground storage tanks, six aboveground storage tanks, and 

more than 400 drums on site when the facility was investigated by the Los Angeles County Fire 

Department in 1992. 

During the Expanded Site Inspection (ESI) conducted in May 1997, several volatile organic compounds 

were identified in near-surface and deep soil samples, as well as perched ground water and an 

underlying regional aquifer. Floating product consisting of total petroleum hydrocarbons (gasoline) and 

12 volatile organic compounds was recovered from three wells drawing from the perched ground 

water. Aqueous samples from 10 other wells in the perched ground water zone contained several 

chlorinated hydrocarbons such as tetrachloroethene (PCE), trichloroethene (TCE), 1,1,1-trichloroethane 

(TCA), 1,1- and 1,2-dichloroethenes, 1,1-dichloroethane, and vinyl chloride. 

EPA installed four monitoring wells into the shallow regional aquifer (80 to 100 feet deep) during the 

ESI in May 1997. Ground water samples from three of the four wells contained TCE ranging from 410 

to 11,000 micrograms per liter. Although the monitoring wells penetrate a shallow regional aquifer of 

the Lakewood Formation, most of the drinking water wells within four miles of the site draw water from 

the San Pedro Formation. Approximately 100 feet of clay separate the Lakewood from the San Pedro 

Formation within two miles of the site. 

Thirteen water purveyors draw ground water from 78 wells within four miles of the site to supply 

drinking water to approximately 339,000 people. The nearest well to the site is 0.3 mile downgradient. 

The site is located next to the Los Angeles River; however, the river is not used for drinking water. 

There are no fisheries nor sensitive environments associated with the site. The site is in a mixed 

industrial and residential community, with a residential tract across the street. 

The Pemaco facility was a large quantity hazardous waste generator when it was in operation. 

Regulatory involvement at the site has been limited to EPA, with some involvement from the Los 

Angeles County Fire Department and the City of Maywood. 

Status (January 1999): EPA is considering various alternatives for the site. 

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. 

National Priorities List (NPL)

Last updated on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009.

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/nar1517.htm

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http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/nar1517.htm 12/3/2009