Rockwell International Wheel & Trim

Overview

A manufacturing facility in Grenada, Mississippi produced wheel covers and chrome plating from 1966 through the early 2000s. Chrome plating stopped in 2001, and TCE use ended in 1992, but both contaminants remain. The EPA added the site to the National Priorities List, a ranking of the nation's most contaminated sites, in September 2018. Cleanup is active but a final remedy has not been chosen yet.

The main contaminants are trichloroethene (TCE), a volatile organic chemical, and hexavalent chromium. They are found in groundwater, soil, surface water, and indoor air inside the manufacturing building. TCE vapors seep up through cracks in the building's concrete foundation. Testing of nearby homes found no TCE indoors. Contaminated groundwater extends into the adjacent Eastern Heights neighborhood and nearby wetlands and Riverdale Creek. The community is not drinking the contaminated water because Grenada's public water supply draws from a location north of the site near the airport.

EPA restarted a sub-slab depressurization system in December 2017 to pull TCE vapors out from under the building and reduce indoor air levels below health thresholds. That system is still running. A pilot groundwater extraction system started in September 2020 and later expanded with two more wells to capture contaminated groundwater at and around the facility. Meritor, one of the responsible parties, signed a Non-Time Critical Removal Action agreement with EPA in August 2022 and continues groundwater monitoring. Meritor is also working on a permeable reactive barrier along Riverdale Creek under state and federal permits. EPA finalized a Remedial Investigation Report in summer 2023. The site is divided into three operable units covering sitewide issues, Eastern Heights groundwater, and facility groundwater. No cleanup remedy has been selected for any of them yet.

Residents can get involved in several ways. EPA has held public meetings, including one on November 3, 2022, and has published fact sheets and FAQs. The community has access to a Technical Advisor through the Technical Assistance Services for Communities program to help interpret sampling results and documents. Two community members serve as contacts to gather questions and work with that advisor. For questions, residents can reach EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Zariah Lewis or Remedial Project Manager Blake Bosch.