The Davis Park Road TCE site covers about 20 acres of residential and commercial land in southwestern Gastonia, North Carolina. Contaminated groundwater was discovered in the early 1990s, and the EPA added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List in January 1999. The likely source of contamination is Davis Park Road Auto Repair at 2307 Davis Park Road, where a plume of polluted groundwater spread south toward Blackwood Creek.
Groundwater is the primary affected medium. Contaminants found there include trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, chloroform, 1,1-dichloroethene, and bromodichloromethane. These chemicals were detected at levels above federal and state drinking water standards, posing unacceptable risk to human health.
The main cleanup action ran from February 2000 to September 2001. It focused on connecting affected homes, churches, and businesses to the City of Gastonia municipal water system. Carbon filters were installed at five residences where homeowners chose not to connect to public water. The remedy also relies on monitored natural attenuation, meaning the groundwater plume is left to break down on its own while annual sampling tracks contaminant levels. North Carolina state regulations prohibit drilling new drinking water wells into the contaminated aquifer, and zoning restrictions prevent land uses incompatible with the cleanup levels achieved. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality took over long-term operation and maintenance in August 2012 and continues annual monitoring with the EPA.
The site reached a sitewide ready-for-anticipated-reuse status in June 2006. All contaminant detections in recent reviews are below cleanup goals. Human exposure is under control, and groundwater migration is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. The EPA has completed five-year reviews in 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, and August 2025. The site has not been deleted from the National Priorities List. Residential homes and an auto service shop continue to operate on site.
Community members with questions can contact the EPA project team directly. Public records related to the site are available at the Gaston County Public Library in Gastonia. Key documents include the 1998 Record of Decision, a 2000 Explanation of Significant Differences, and the series of five-year review reports.
