Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Chemours Company FC, LLC (Formerly: Dupont Washington Works) in Washington, West Virginia

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In 1989, EPA issued to DuPont Washington Works the Corrective Action portion of their site Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit to conduct investigations and determine if corrective measures were necessary for on-site solid waste management units (SWMUs).

    Cleanup Status

    Under EPA direction, DuPont completed a RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI).  The RFI is a follow-up investigation to the Verification Investigation (VI), which was conducted in 1992 to evaluate whether soil and groundwater quality was impacted by five Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) located on facility property. The VI determined that four SWMUs may have released hazardous constituents to soil and/or groundwater.  The RFI is designed to expand on the VI work by further investigating soil and groundwater quality beneath the four SWMU locations, and determine if corrective measures are necessary. The RFI was accepted as final in February 2006.

    DuPont developed a sitewide groundwater flow model in order to fully characterize the site groundwater system’s flow directions, flow rates, and discharge locations. This holistic approach to groundwater investigation is being conducted because the site currently operates a large system of production wells, which supply water to the manufacturing processes. Previous evaluations of the groundwater system have indicated that ongoing production well pumping appears to control aquifer gradients. The groundwater modeling work basically confirmed these historical evaluations.  The new groundwater model provided a more accurate depiction of groundwater contours under pumping conditions.

    In April 1991, DuPont discovered a groundwater seep containing elevated levels of methylene chloride at the toe of the west end of the Riverbank Landfill Solid Waste Management Units (SWMU).  DuPont soon thereafter installed a french drain type seepage collection system to capture this water and prevent further migration.  The water collected in this system is passed through an activated carbon treatment system and then discharged to the Ohio River via an National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitted outfall.

    DuPont agreed to perform the closure of the Riverbank Landfill (RBL) and the former Anaerobic Digestion Ponds (ADPs) Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) at the Facility as an Interim Remedial Measure (IRM). The closure was performed to address essential elements of the site’s Corrective Action  Program, that is under the jurisdiction of the WVDEP through a Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) Permit Number WVD045875291.

      Construction activities were completed from September 2011 to December 2012. An IRM Completion Report documented  that the remedy has been completed  in accordance with the remedy design (DuPont, 2011) and applicable West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) regulations. Specifically, the engineered cap system was designed and constructed to meet the intent of the performance requirements detailed in the WVDEP Title 33, Series 1, Solid Waste Management Rule (W. Va. Code §22-15-1) regulations for a Type F Industrial Landfill (WVDEP, 1996). Conformance with the substantive Solid Waste Management Rule requirements will serve to ensure the long-term performance of the constructed remedy.

    A Corrective Measures Study (CMS) was conducted to identify and evaluate Corrective Measures alternatives for the Facility and recommended the best-balanced Corrective Measures alternative.

    WVDEP acknowledges that an evaluation of multiple alternatives is not always necessary, particularly if a remedy decision can be determined based on previous investigations, remedial actions and RCRA site characterization investigations.  In this case, a review of several investigation reports that documented sources of contamination had been identified and remediated.  Because of the aggressive approach taken by the Facility in addressing environmental problems through interim measures (IMs) and institutional controls (ICs), the only environmental concern to be addressed is site related groundwater contamination.

    WVDEP’s proposed remedy for this site is comprised of a program of monitored natural attenuation in conjunction with the continued control, capture, and treatment of contaminated groundwater and the implementation of institutional controls (“ICs”).

    As part of the Final Remedy WVDEP will require the Facility to provide assurances of financial responsibility for completing the Remedy.  Financial Assurance details for RCRA CA will be incorporated  into the WVDEP-issued RCRA Permit after the Final Remedy is approved.

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    Site Description

    Interactive Map of Chemours Company FC, LLC, Washington, West Virginia


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    The Chemours /DuPont Washington Works is located in Washington, West Virginia, approximately seven miles southwest of Parkersburg, WV.   The 1,200-acre site is situated along the Ohio River and has manufactured various polymer products since 1948.  The facility has 14 operating and service divisions that span a manufacturing area nearly one mile in length .

    As part of its activities as a member of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, DuPont Washington Works has organized a Community Responsible Care Team to address citizen’s concerns about the site safety, health and environmental performance and review related topics.  The team is composed of citizens from neighboring communities and plant personnel. Programs like the RFI are typically reviewed in the team’s quarterly meetings

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    Contaminants at this Facility

    Volatile organic compounds are the main constituents found in the site’s soil and groundwater.  These compounds primarily consist of methylene chloride, and trace levels of tetrachloroethene, and 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane.  In addition, a surfactant dispersing agent, ammonium perfluoro-octanoate, has also been detected at the site.

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    Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility

      The ICs shall include, but not be limited to, the following land and groundwater use
      restrictions:
      a. Except for the production water that is already approved for treatment and use as potable water at the Facility, groundwater at the Facility shall not be used for any purpose other than:  1) industrial use and non-contact cooling water; and  2 ) the operation, maintenance, and monitoring activities required by WVDEP and/or EPA,
      unless it is demonstrated to WVDEP, in consultation with EPA, that such use will not pose a threat to human health or the environment or adversely affect or interfere with the selected remedy and WVDEP, in consultation with EPA, provides prior written approval for such use;
      b. The Facility property shall not be used tor residential purposes unless it is demonstrated to WVDEP, in consultation with EPA, that such use will not pose a threat to human health or the environment or adversely affect or interfere with the selected remedy, and WVDEP, in consultation with EPA, provides prior written approval for such use;
      c. All earth moving activities, including excavation, drilling and construction activities, in the areas at the Facility where any contaminants remain in soils above EPA's Screening levels for non-residential use or groundwater above Federal MCLs, tfap Water RBCs, shall be prohibited unless it is demonstrated to WVDEP, in consultation with EPA, that such activity will not pose a threat to human health or the environment or adversely affect or interfere with the selected remedy, and WVDEP, in consultation with EPA, provides prior written approval for such use
      d. The Property will not be used in a way that will adversely affect or interfere with the integrity and protectiveness of the final remedy;
      e. No new wells will be installed on Facility property unless it is demonstrated to WV DEP and EPA they are necessary necessary to implement the final remedy and WV DEP provides prior written approval to install such wells.

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      Land Reuse Information at this Facility

      The facility is in continued use.

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      Site Responsibility at this Facility

      RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility have been conducted under the direction of  EPA Region 3 with assistance from the WV DEPP.

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