EPA Begins Remedial Investigation Fieldwork At Arkwright Dump Site in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Business Editors and Environmental Writers

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2000

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that remedial investigation fieldwork has begun at the Arkwright Dump site in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Samples of soil, groundwater, surface water and sediment will be collected to investigate the nature and extent of contamination at the site. Field work is expected to be concluded by the end of August, 2000.

In November of 1999, EPA entered into an agreement with the City of Spartanburg, South Carolina under which the city would 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 agreed to conduct a remedial investigation (RI) to 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 another 6-9 months to complete. Once the RI/FS is complete, EPA will select a cleanup plan from among those considered in the feasibility study.

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.