Case Study: Atlantic Phosphate Works Site, South Carolina

From GeoClasses

Atlantic Phosphate Works Site, South Carolina

by: Torris Seay

The Atlantic Phosphate Works Site is located in Charleston, SC on the Ashley River. This site is where the phosphate fertilizer has been manufactured from 1900 to 1943. The process for producing this fertilizer requires reacting phosphate ores with sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid. The sulfuric acid made at this site is kept in a lead-insulated chamber. As a result of manufacturing the fertilizer here, there is an elevated level of metals like lead and arsenic in the soil, groundwater, and sediment.

Exxon Mobil Corporation along with the EPA into an Administrative Order of Consent on the 10th of October 2000. This site posed a lot of threats because the lead canisters contaminated the soil, ground water, and sediment. The soil was contaminated along with the water because the site was based on the Ashley River.

After the studies were conducted, the EPA signed an Action Memorandum on September 2004 that gave the authorization to use non time-critical removal action (NTCRA) to deal with the contamination at the site. This NTCRA was estimated to have cost 5,853,000 and has a projected date for completion set to be fall 2007.

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