Blue Ridge Plating
Arden, North Carolina

Site Description

The Blue Ridge Plating site is located in Arden, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The metal plating company, in operation from 1974 through the present, is located on three acres of land and uses black oxide, cadmium, chromium, copper, cyanide, tin, and zinc. From 1974 to 1985, electroplating wastes were collected in drums located in the basement. The plating sludge was filtered out and the wastewater was directed to a 70,000 gallon in-ground concrete lagoon located behind the shop. Plating sludge was shipped off-site for disposal and the wastewater was either sprayed on the ground or reused as process water. Between 1985 and 1990, the wastewater was discharged to the local municipal sewer system.

Current Site Status and Cleanup Actions to Date

• In 2005, EPA placed the Blue Ridge Plating site on the National Priorities List (NPL).
• A final cleanup plan was signed by EPA in September, 2004. The selected remedy consists of: excavating (PDF) (2 pp, 530 K) approximately the top one and a half feet of soil on approximately half of the site, stabilizing (PDF) (2 pp, 47 K) the soils if necessary, and transporting the excavated soils off-site for disposal at a RCRA Subtitle D landfill; implementing a long-term groundwater monitoring program to confirm that natural attenuation (PDF) (2 pp, 91 K) processes are occurring in the aquifer; implementing institutional controls; and implementing a contingent remedy involving injection of a reagent(s) in the underlying aquifer to treat the contaminants in place along with long-term monitoring, if the groundwater analytical data does not demonstrate that natural attenuation processes are occurring.
• The remedial design began in 2005, and portions of the design are currently ongoing.
• The soil remedy is scheduled for completion by May 31, 2007.

Current Funding Status

• In the fall of 2006, EPA funded $995,000 for the cleanup.

For more information on the projects at this site, please read the Blue Ridge Plating Site Profile on the Superfund Information Systems Web site.