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National Electric Coil/Cooper Industries
National Information
Photos/Multimedia
Site photo goes here.
- Additional Site Photos
- Site Video
Additional Resources
- Site Cleanup Terms - can be found in EPA's glossary
- EPA Guides to Cleanup Technologies
- Superfund Community Involvement (PDF) (17 pp, 130K)
Site Summary Profile
EPA ID: KYD985069954Location: Dayhoit, Harlan County, KY
Lat/Long: 36.843880, -083.371380
Congressional District: 05
NPL Status: Proposed: 07/29/91; Final: 10/14/92
Affected Media: Air, Ground water
Cleanup Status: Construction complete - Physical cleanup activities have been completed.
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: Continued industrial use
Site Manager: Keriema Newman (newman.keriema@epa.gov)
Site Background
The 3.5-acre National Electric Coil/Cooper Industries site is located adjacent to the Cumberland River in the town of Dayhoit, Harlan County, Kentucky. From 1951 to 1987 the National Electric Coil Company (NEC), operated under the ownership of the McGraw Edison Company. The business involved rewinding electric motors, manufacturing coils, and rebuilding machinery used in the coal mining industry. Cooper Industries purchased McGraw Edison in 1985 and continued operations until August 1987 when the facility was sold to Treen Land Company. Currently, Treen Land Company is using the site for operation of the National Electric Service Company (NES), which is an active facility for rewinding and rebuilding electric motors and hydraulic systems used for the mining of coal.
Past practices at the facility involved the use of a trichloroethylene (TCE)-based solvent to remove oil and tar from the used motors, capacitors, transformers, and other equipment prior to their being rebuilt. Activities performed to clean the equipment and the equipment-dipping tank resulted in on-site and off-site contamination. Under former operating practices liquid solvent, waste sludges and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-laden transformer oils were allowed to flow overland and/or through a drainage pipe to the Cumberland River.
Threats and Contaminants
Contaminated drinking water was detected at the adjacent Holiday Mobile Home Park in February 1989, during a routine Kentucky Division Water community well sampling event. Twelve of the 50 wells sampled indicated the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particularly TCE and its degradation by-products.
Site Cleanup Plan
The Record of Decision (ROD) for the site was issued in 1996. Major cleanup elements for the site included:
- Recovery of contaminated ground water from the impacted alluvial and bedrock aquifers beneath and adjacent to the site.
- Treatment of the recovered water with air stripping.
- Catalytic oxidation of the VOC-laden off gas.
- Discharge of the treated water to the Cumberland River via Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System requirements.
Cleanup Progress
Contaminated well users were provided with alternate drinking water supplies until they could be connected to municipal water lines in August 1989.
From October 1990 through October 1991, an early action removal was carried out, consisting of the excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 5,100 tons of contaminated source soils.
Preliminary ground water pump-and-treat activities began in July 1993 in order to minimize VOC plume migration during the remedy selection and implementation period. An estimated 4,566 pounds of VOCs have been removed from ground water the system was implemented.
The final selected remedy was implemented according to the 1996 ROD, and site construction was completed in August 23, 1998. The ROD was issued to address contaminated ground water.
An Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) was prepared to document changes to the site remedy to include institutional controls on ground water use within the footprint of the ground water plume and remove catalytic oxidation of the VOC-laden off gas from the air stripper. A public notice announcing the ESD and the public meeting was placed in the Harlan Daily Enterprise. The public notice summarized the significant changes to the remedy. Additionally, the public notice announced the 30-day public comment period and public meeting. The public comment period was held from November 5th through December 4, 2010. A public meeting was also held at the Harlan Center on November 18, 2010. Representatives from KYDEP and the PRP’s consultant were present at the meeting. Copies of the ESD were also available for viewing at the Bryan W. Whitfield Jr. Public Library.
EPA did not receive any comments during the public meeting. Additionally, EPA did not receive comments by email, fax, or post office mail during the comment period. The ESD was finalized on February 8, 2011.
Site cleanup activities are being led primarily by potentially responsible parties (PRPs) with oversight by EPA.
Enforcement Activities
In October 1990, EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) to PRPs, McGraw-Edison/Cooper, Treen Land Company, and NES, to conduct an interim removal action of contaminated soils located on site. Cooper undertook the site removal action activities with the approval of the current site property owner, NES.
The site Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) and associated site studies were conducted under the Administrative Order by Consent (AOC) that McGraw-Edison/Cooper Industries, Inc., entered into with the EPA in May 1992. The RI/FS was finalized in January 1995.
December 1992 EPA issued a UAO to Cooper for the performance of interim remedial design and remedial action activities associated with ground water cleanup.
Community Involvement
EPA has conducted a range of community involvement activities at the National Electric Coil Co./Cooper Industries site to solicit community input and to ensure that the public remains informed about site activities throughout the site cleanup process. Outreach activities have included public notices, interviews, and public meetings on cleanup activities and updates.
Future Work
Ground water recovery and treatment is ongoing and continues to effectively remove and treat contaminants from the shallow and deeper aquifers. Semi-annual ground water monitoring is performed by the PRP’s contractors and documented in Semi-annual ground water monitoring reports.
View the draft ESD (PDF). (7 pp, 2.86MB, About PDF)
Site Administrative Documents
Site Repository
For more information or to view any site-related documents, please visit the site information repository at the following location. As new documents are generated, they will be placed in the information repository for public information.
Harlan Public Library
3rd. & Central
Harlan, KY 40831
For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.