The National Electric Coil Co./Cooper Industries site covers 3.5 acres in Dayhoit, Harlan County, Kentucky. Coal mining machinery repair operations ran there from 1951 to 1987, leaving behind contaminated soil, groundwater, and air. The EPA placed the site on the Superfund National Priorities List in 1992. It sits along the Cumberland River, close to low-income residential communities. A wrecker and auto salvage business currently operates on the property.
The main contaminants are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including trichloroethene, benzene, toluene, and vinyl chloride. Groundwater also contains 1,1-dichloroethene, 1,2-dichloroethane, dichloromethane, ethylbenzene, xylene, lead, and chloride. In 1989, VOCs were found in 12 private drinking water wells at a nearby mobile home park at levels above safe standards. Residents received alternate water supplies until homes were connected to the public water system.
Cleanup work has included removing about 5,700 tons of contaminated soil during the 1990s and in 2001. A groundwater pump-and-treat system has operated since 1993, using an air stripper to treat contaminated water before it is discharged to the river. Physical construction was completed in August 1998. Responsible parties continue semi-annual groundwater monitoring. Institutional controls are in place on three of the four affected parcels to prevent groundwater use until cleanup standards are met.
The EPA completed its most recent Five-Year Review in August 2023. That review found human exposure is under control with no current unacceptable exposure pathways, and groundwater migration is stabilized. However, the review could not confirm the remedy's long-term protectiveness because vapor intrusion, which occurs when contaminated vapors move from soil or groundwater into nearby buildings, had not been evaluated. In 2024, the EPA approved an Off-Site Vapor Intrusion Assessment Work Plan. The Potentially Responsible Parties are expected to begin that assessment in 2025. The next Five-Year Review is estimated for August through October 2028.
Community members can stay involved through public notices, interviews, and public meetings that the EPA holds to share updates on cleanup progress. The EPA has conducted extra outreach in low-income areas near the site. Site records are available for public review at the Harlan Public Library, 107 North Third Street, Harlan, Kentucky 40831. For questions, residents can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or the Remedial Project Manager.
