Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Huntington Alloys Corporation in Huntington, West Virginia
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
Cleanup Status
On March 31, 2014, the Facility submitted a Work Plan Addendum to further assess the chemicals of potential concern (COPC) in groundwater in the Spent Acid Plant Area and at each of the Land-Based units. This Work Plan Addendum will serve as a supplement to the original Workplan submitted in June 4, 2014 and approved by West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) on June 25, 2012. The workplan addendum is under review by WVDEP. The facility completed a groundwater sampling and elevation levels of the groundwater and river in September/October 2015. This effort is in support of the evaluation for the “Groundwater under Control” Environmental Indicator determination, which is projected for November 2015.
A comprehensive summary report will be submitted pursuant to the schedule in the Voluntary Remediation Agreement (VRA) and modifications.
Site Description
The facility is located on a 140-acre site north of the Guyandotte River about fifty feet from the property line. The southwest portion of the property is surrounded by the Huntington flood wall. A residential area is located less than a mile, southeast of the facility. The facility consists of:
- There are 37 solid waste management units (SWMUs)
- There are four areas of concern (AOC)
- The plan began operations in 1922 as the Inco Huntington Plan manufacturing various nickel alloys. The manufacturing process has remained the same since the facility began operations in 1922.
- The manufacturing comes from five main buildings, the melt shop building, primary mill building, strip mill building, bar and wire building and the cold draw building.
- There several solid waste management units (SWMU). This includes a container storage, former baghouse dust storage, former nitric-HF tank, waste holding, spent acid tank system, neutralization tank, former west tailing pond, three former lagoons, former landfill, waste pile, hydraulic oil recycling unit, multi-hearth roasting furnace area, former barium chloride area, existing west tailing pond, dewatering filter press, reslurry tank, multi-hearth furnace, equalization tank, picking rinsewater pre-treatment plants, equalization tank, reaction tank, clarifier, three sludge dewatering tank, satellite accumulation areas, pre-treatment plant, former strip mill/current spent acid tank, former electro plating tanks, sludge holding tank, former temporary sludge holding tank, trash dumpsters, parts washer, equipment boneyard, and vacuum truck washer area.
Contaminants at this Facility
There were four areas of concern (AOC). They are the former dip tank, seven underground storage tanks, the sulfuric acid spills/overfills, and a stained area.
The former dip tank has no evidence of a spill or release during the October 2009 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) site visit or during a WVDEP or EPA file review.
For the seven underground storage tanks, no information was found in files reviewed indicated a release from these tanks or any sampling activities relating to their removal.
There was a release of sulfuric acid in April 1994. The facility reported the spill to the National Response Center and neutralized the spill with soda ash; no confirmatory samples were collected. A second sulfuric acid release occurred in July 1990. Soil sampling was recommended in May 1994 but there is no evidence in the files that this sampling was ever completed.
There was an area of black staining observed on the ground near the pre-treatment plant (one of the SWMU). The source or cause of this staining could not be determined during the 2009 RCRA site visit.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
The need for Institutional Controls is yet to be determined.
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
The facility is under continued use.
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 DEP.