This is a list of Superfund sites in Tennessee designated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) environmental law. The CERCLA federal law of 1980 authorized the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create a list of polluted locations requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations. [1] These locations are known as Superfund sites, and are placed on the National Priorities List (NPL).
The NPL guides the EPA in "determining which sites warrant further investigation" for environmental remediation. [2] As of October 1, 2020, there were eighteen Superfund sites on the National Priorities List in Tennessee [2] and three Superfund Alternative sites. [3] Zero sites are currently proposed for entry on the list and seven others have been cleaned up and removed from it. [2]
| CERCLIS ID | Name | County | Reason | Proposed | Listed [4] | Construction completed [5] | Partially deleted [6] | Deleted [7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNN000410203 | Alamo Contaminated Ground Water | Crockett | VOCs, including TCE, PCE, dichloroethene and trichloroethane have been detected in ground water in several monitoring wells and the city’s municipal wells. [8] | 03/10/2011 | 09/16/2011 | – | – | – |
| TND007018799 | American Creosote Works, (Jackson Plant) | Madison | Groundwater, surface water, soil and sediments were contaminated by VOCs, PAHs and heavy metals from former wood treatment operations. [9] [10] | 10/15/1984 | 06/10/1986 | 05/24/2000 | – | – |
| TND980729172 | Amnicola Dump | Hamilton | Former dumping activities led to contamination by pesticides, PAHs, VOCs, heavy metals, PCBs, inorganic compounds and persistent organic pollutants, among other substances. Leachates had elevated levels of organic compounds and groundwater was contaminated by chromium, though municipal wells were unaffected. [11] [12] | 12/30/1982 | 09/08/1983 | 09/28/1993 | – | 04/30/1996 |
| TND980468557 | Arlington Blending & Packaging | Shelby | Operations, spills and leakage at a pesticide processing facility led to soil contamination by chlordane, heptachlor, endrin, PCP and arsenic and shallow groundwater contamination by PCP and DCE. The site has been cleaned up and is now a neighborhood park. [13] [14] | 07/22/1987 | 07/24/1997 | – | – | |
| TN8570024044 | Arnold Engineering Development Center (USAF) | Coffee and Franklin | PCBs from the site have contaminated surface water, sediments and fish off-site. is on-site contamination by PCBs, trichloroethane, methyl chloride and toluene and spills of jet fuel, rocket fuel, CFCs, nitric acid and other substances have been reported. [15] [16] Site has since been removed from Proposed NPL [17] | 08/23/1994 | – | – | – | – |
| TND044062222 | Carrier Air Conditioning Co. | Shelby | Two spills contaminated soil with TCE and sediments in a wastewater lagoon were contaminated by zinc and TCE. In July 1986, TCE was found in the municipal water plant, is close to the site. [18] [19] | 06/24/1984 | 02/21/1990 | 10/31/1995 | – | – |
| TND987768546 | Chemet Co. | Fayette | Unsecured slag piles from an antimony oxide plant contaminated soil, surface water and the fields of an adjacent school with lead, arsenic and antimony. [20] [21] | 01/18/1994 | 05/31/1994 | 05/15/1996 | – | 10/09/1996 |
| TND987768587 | Clinch River Corporation | Roane | Historical investigations at the site have revealed extensive contamination in surface and subsurface soil and shallow ground water. Contamination includes elevated concentrations of site-related hazardous substances, including dioxins, furans, PAHs, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and various metals in surface and sub-surface soil. In addition, site related contaminants have been found in sediment and fish tissue within the Emory River/Watts Barr Reservoir. [22] | 09/18/2012 | 05/24/2013 | – | – | – |
| TN0001890839 | Copper Basin Mining District | Polk | Acidic drainage from waste materials has caused deforestation, leading to severe erosion, and led to high levels of metals in soil, sediments and surface water. Oils containing PCBs have leaked from abandoned transformers. Abandoned mine workings and deteriorating facilities and waste piles pose significant physical hazards. [23] | – | – | – | – | – |
| TNN000402275 | Former Custom Cleaners | Shelby | Soils, indoor air, and ground water have been contaminated with tetrachloroethylene (PCE). PCE has been found above the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) in ground water and at concentrations exceeding screening levels in indoor air and subsurface soil. [24] | 09/09/2016 | 08/03/2017 | – | – | – |
| TND980728992 | Gallaway Pits | Fayette | Unauthorized dumping in flooded former sand and gravel pits contaminated soil and surface water with pesticides, including chlordane and toxaphene, risking contamination of local private drinking water wells. [25] [26] | 12/30/1982 | 09/08/1983 | 07/18/1995 | – | 04/29/1996 |
| TND987767795 | ICG Iselin Railroad Yard | Madison | Soil and sediment contamination by lead and VOCs, including vinyl chloride and benzene. [27] [28] | 05/10/1993 | 12/16/1994 | 03/29/2000 | – | 01/07/2002 |
| TND073540783 | ICG (Johnston Yard) | Shelby | Soil and groundwater are contaminated by metals, petroleum products, diesel fuel, and occasional solvents and pesticides. Contamination is not at a level to threaten worker health and groundwater contamination appears localized to the site. [29] | – | – | – | – | – |
| TND980729115 | Lewisburg Dump | Marshall | Concerns were groundwater contamination, leachate generation and direct exposure to dumped industrial waste due to the deteriorating landfill cap. [30] [31] | 12/30/1982 | 09/08/1983 | 09/28/1993 | – | 02/21/1996 |
| TND075453688 | Mallory Capacitor Co. | Wayne | Groundwater and private drinking water wells contaminated by PCBs and VOCs, including TCE and DCE. [32] [33] | 01/22/1987 | 10/04/1989 | 09/24/1996 | – | – |
| TN4210020570 | Memphis Defense Depot (DLA) | Shelby | Ground water, sediment, soil and surface water are contaminated by substances including arsenic, dieldrin, PAHs, PCBs, PCE and TCE from operations at the Depot, closed under BRAC. [34] [35] | 02/07/1992 | 10/14/1992 | 05/10/2010 | – | – |
| TN0210020582 | Milan Army Ammunition Plant | Carroll and Gibson | Groundwater and soil contamination by TNT and RDX. The Memphis Sand Aquifer, supplies water to 9,000 people in Milan is contaminated. [36] [37] | 10/15/1984 | 07/22/1987 | 07/25/2017 | – | – |
| TND980728836 | Murray-Ohio Dump | Lawrence | Soil and groundwater were contaminated by heavy metals, including chromium, hexavalent chromium, nickel and zinc and by VOCs including DCE, TCE and PCE from former industrial and municipal landfill operations. [38] [39] | 12/30/1982 | 09/08/1983 | 09/24/1998 | – | – |
| TNSFN0407047 | National Fireworks | Shelby | Soil is contaminated by arsenic, lead, zinc, chromium, dieldrin and PCBs and groundwater by PCE, TCE, DCE and perchlorate. [40] | – | – | – | – | – |
| TND980558894 | North Hollywood Dump | Shelby | Soil, groundwater, and pond sediments were contaminated with pesticides and heavy metals, including lead, copper and arsenic from former industrial waste dumping. [41] [42] | 12/30/1982 | 09/08/1983 | 07/01/1997 | – | 12/31/1997 |
| TN1890090003 | Oak Ridge Reservation (USDOE) | Roane and Anderson | The site consists of hundreds of contaminated areas inside and around the Reservation, including three large production facilities dating from the Manhattan Project: the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the former K-25 gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant and the Y-12 plant formerly enriched uranium by an electromagnetic method and now performs nuclear weapons and energy functions. Leakage from buried waste and former processing facilities has contaminated soil, groundwater, surface water and sediments with substances including base neutral acids, inorganic compounds, metals, PAHs, PCBs, pesticides, radioactive materials and VOCs. Contamination outside the Reservation is mainly of surface water and sediments. [43] [44] | 07/14/1989 | 11/21/1989 | – | – | – |
| TND096070396 | Ross Metals Inc. | Fayette | Soil and surface water were contaminated by lead from a former secondary smelter. Groundwater lead contamination is being treated. [45] [46] | 12/23/1996 | 04/01/1997 | 09/16/2004 | – | – |
| TND987790300 | Sixty One Industrial | Shelby | Former industrial activities led to groundwater contamination by vinyl chloride, TCE, PCE, antimony, arsenic, barium, iron, manganese and thallium. [47] [48] | – | – | – | – | – |
| TNN000407378 | Smalley-Piper | Shelby | Soil contamination by metals including chromium, copper and lead and groundwater and surface water contamination by hexavalent chromium from former tool manufacturing. Groundwater contamination has affected the Memphis Aquifer and two Collierville municipal wells have been taken out of service as a result. [49] [50] | 09/23/2004 | 04/27/2005 | – | – | – |
| TND098071061 | Smokey Mountain Smelters | Knox | The site contains an abandoned aluminum smelter and a former fertilizer manufacturing plant. Around 2,700 cubic yards of aluminum dross, contain heavy metals and water-soluble and corrosive salts such as aluminum nitride, sodium chloride and potassium chloride. There are also around 75,000 cu yd of salt cake. Groundwater is contaminated by arsenic, soils are contaminated by arsenic and PCBs and a nearby creek is contaminated by cadmium. Access to the site is unrestricted, so trespassers may come into contact with contaminants. [51] | 03/04/2010 | – | – | – | |
| TNN000410686 | Southside Chattanooga Lead | Hamilton | Soil in residential and communal areas were contaminated by lead from former foundry operations. [54] Foundries gave residents spent foundry sand to use as fill material, which contained elevated amounts of lead and other heavy metals. [55] | 01/18/2018 | 09/13/2018 | – | – | – |
| TND071516959 | Tennessee Products | Hamilton | Soil, groundwater, surface water and sediment, including the Chattanooga Creek are contaminated by pesticides, VOCs, PAHs, metals and PCBs from uncontrolled coal tar dumping. [56] [57] | 01/18/1994 | 09/29/1995 | 09/26/2008 | – | 08/16/2019 |
| TND980559033 | Velsicol Chemical Corp (Hardeman County) | Hardeman | Approximately 130,000 drums of waste from the company's Memphis pesticide plant were dumped on site, contaminating soil and groundwater with base neutral acids, pesticides, PAHs and VOCs. Contamination was found in private drinking water wells in 1979. [58] [59] | 12/30/1982 | 09/08/1983 | 08/13/1998 | – | – |
| TNN000410124 | Walker Machine Products, Inc. | Shelby | Walker Machine Products used chlorinated solvents, including tetrachloroethene (PCE) and 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA), to clean the finished products. A 1987 Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Inspection Report stated the company was draining spent solvent onto the ground and into the sewer drain in the rear of the building. An oil/water separator was used by Walker Machine Products which handled solvent waste. The primary source of soil and ground water contamination is found in the area of the oil/water separator. [60] | 12/12/2013 | 05/12/2014 | – | – | – |
| TND980844781 | Wrigley Charcoal Plant | Hickman | Soil and groundwater are contaminated by wood tar chemicals, metals and VOCs from past industrial operations. [61] [62] | 06/24/1988 | 03/31/1989 | – | – | – |