Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Ply Gem Windows (Formerly: MW Manufacturers Incorporated) in Rocky Mount, Virginia
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
Cleanup Status
A Final Decision and Response to Comments (FDRTC) document was developed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and signed on May 19, 2021. The Final Corrective Active Remedy Decision requires the facility to conduct long-term groundwater monitoring and implement institutional and engineering controls. The controls include restricting groundwater use from beneath the property, residential use prohibition, site security fencing, “No Trespassing” signage, and maintaining building pad and asphalt cover in Exposure Areas 1 and 2.
The Final Remedy will be implemented through the forthcoming environmental covenant under the Virginia Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (UECA).
Site Description
Interactive Map of Ply Gem Windows (MW Manufacturers Incorporated), Rocky Mount, VA
The Facility is located on an approximately 38.7‐acre property occupied by a 578,000‐square‐foot building that houses MW’s manufacturing, warehouse, and office operations. Smaller security guard house and office/personnel training buildings are located along the eastern edge of the property. A 10,000‐square‐foot truck maintenance building is located along the western property boundary. The Facility has been an industrial‐use site since the early 1900s and has been manufacturing windows since at least 1943.
Current operations include woodworking, treating wood surfaces, glass cutting/cleaning, fabricating vinyl, and assembling windows, screens, and doors. Wood was historically treated in one of three former dip‐tanks (former Dip‐Tank‐1, ‐2, and ‐3). Wood preservative solutions at the Site previously consisted of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in a mineral spirits carrier until 1985. PCP was discontinued in 1986; thereafter, the Facility treated wood using a mineral spirit‐based solution containing 3-iodo-2-propynyl butyl carbamate (IPBC) in addition to a water‐based wood preservative. The water‐based solution was discontinued in the late 1990s. Wood is currently treated in a closed‐loop vacuum pressure system in an aboveground lineal tank using the mineral spirit‐based solution containing IPBC.
Contaminants at this Facility
The primary contaminants of concern (COC) in soil and groundwater are polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), pentachlorophenol (PCP), dioxin/furan, and metals.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional controls include restricting groundwater use from beneath the property and residential use prohibition. Excavation and/or management of soil and groundwater in Exposure Area 1 shall be conducted in accordance with an Agency-approved Materials Management Plan. Required engineering controls include site security fencing, “No Trespassing” signage, and building pad and asphalt cover in Exposure Areas 1 and 2.
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
The facility is under continued use.
Site Responsibility at this Facility
RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility are being conducted under the direction of the Virginia DEQ with assistance from the EPA Region 3.