Beginning in 1990, Alcoa Inc. began to take action to identify and investigate waste sites in Stanly County related to its operations. A total of 49 potential waste sites were identified and tremendous progress has been made in addressing any sites that might pose a potential health or environmental threat.
The work is being done under the supervision of the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in accordance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), a federal program adopted by the State of North Carolina to regulate the management of waste.
Through the RCRA process, an initial screening assessment identified 49 areas within the plant site or associated with plant operations to evaluate. A RCRA Facility Investigation was conducted to characterize and evaluate risks associated with these areas, followed by a Corrective Measures Study to identify appropriate remediation efforts to protect human health and the environment. These efforts concluded that there are no unacceptable risks at the site based on current and anticipated future uses of the property. Click here for an overview of remediation efforts.
Additional investigations, requested by DEQ in 2017, have been completed. One study, an Ecological Risk Assessments for two areas, is currently underway. These assessments require multiple submittals for DEQ’s review and acceptance before proceeding to the next step. The process is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2022.