Leetown Pesticide

Overview

The Leetown Pesticide site sits in Jefferson County, West Virginia, where three parcels were formerly used to mix, store, and apply pesticides and insecticides. The site was added to EPA's Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. It has since been fully cleaned up and deleted from the NPL, meaning it no longer needs EPA's highest-priority attention. A U.S. Geological Survey facility now occupies 2 acres of the site, and the surrounding area is dominated by dairy cattle pastures and forage crop farms.

The main contaminants found in soil and solid waste include several forms of hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha, beta, and delta), lindane (gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane), endosulfan, endrin, and DDT-related compounds including P,P'-DDT, P,P'-DDE, and P,P'-DDD. Inorganic contaminants were also identified in soil and solid waste. All contaminants fall under a single sitewide operable unit.

Cleanup began with a removal action in 1983, when about 160 cubic yards of contaminated waste and soil were taken away. EPA then conducted a combined site investigation and cleanup study between 1984 and 1986, leading to a Record of Decision (ROD) in March 1986. That ROD called for demolishing the eastern portion of the Crimm Orchard Packing Shed and treating roughly 3,600 cubic yards of contaminated soil through bioremediation. The shed demolition was finished by April 1988. However, treatability studies showed that bioremediation could not bring soil contamination down to the target cleanup levels. In 1992, EPA reassessed the site using updated risk guidance and found the remaining soils did not pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. EPA issued a ROD Amendment on April 7, 1992, changing the remedy to no further action. The site was deleted from the NPL in August 1996. Human exposure is under control, groundwater contamination is stabilized, and all cleanup goals for current and anticipated future land uses have been met.

Community members who want to learn more or stay involved can contact EPA directly. The public can also schedule an appointment to review the site's administrative record, which includes 17 remedial documents, at the EPA Region 3 office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by calling (215) 814-2396. For information on the health effects of specific contaminants, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), part of the Centers for Disease Control, provides contaminant profiles online.