Agreement Reached to Investigate Contamination at Arkwright Dump Site in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 23, 1999--

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that an agreement has been reached with the City of Spartanburg, South Carolina under which the city will perform a phased study of environmental contamination at the Arkwright Dump site in Spartanburg.

According to the terms of the agreement called an Administrative Order by Consent, the City of Spartanburg will conduct a Remedial Investigation (RI) to identify the nature and extent of contamination at the site. This will be followed by a Feasibility Study (FS), which will develop alternatives for addressing the problems posed by the site. The RI/FS will take approximately fifteen months to complete. Once the RI/FS is complete, EPA will select a cleanup plan from among those considered in the FS.

As part of the Superfund Program, EPA conducted a Preliminary Assessment between June and September 1998. The assessment recommended that a Site Inspection, which includes sample analysis, be performed. The inspection was completed in May 1999. Based on the results, EPA began discussions with the City of Spartanburg concerning the need for investigation and cleanup at the site.

The Arkwright Dump site was identified to EPA by a local citizen in February 1998. The site is a landfill which was formerly owned and operated by the city. Operations were closed in 1972.