The Macalloy Corporation site sits in North Charleston, South Carolina, where a ferrochromium alloy smelting plant ran from 1941 to 1998. The facility used furnaces to extract metal from ore and left behind about 80,000 tons of dust and sludge in an unlined surface reservoir. Process water discharged into Shipyard Creek and nearby wetlands. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in February 2000. The Department of Defense has owned, operated, or used parts of the site since 1942.
EPA identified ten contaminants of concern in soil, groundwater, and sediment. These include antimony, arsenic, chromium, chromium(VI), iron, manganese, nickel, and zinc. Arsenic shows up in both groundwater and soil. Chromium(VI) was found in soil and continues to affect a small area of shallow groundwater. Iron and manganese were detected in groundwater, while nickel and zinc turned up in sediment.
EPA issued a cleanup plan in August 2002. It called for removing radiological material, chemically treating contaminated soil and groundwater, building a storm water management system, and removing or capping sediment in tidal creek and Shipyard Creek areas. Cleanup work ran from April 2004 through early 2007, with construction officially completed on September 26, 2006. That milestone marked the EPA Superfund program's 1,000th construction completion. Restrictive covenants put in place in May 2006 limit the site to commercial and industrial use and prohibit groundwater use. A partial deletion from the NPL occurred on September 30, 2020, though the site has not been fully deleted. EPA issued an Explanation of Significant Differences in 2021 that updated the remedy to focus on institutional controls, five-year reviews, and removal actions. The 2020 Five-Year Review found the remedy protects human health and the environment in the short term, and EPA has determined that human exposure and groundwater migration are both under control.
The site has been redeveloped into an industrial park. Three businesses now operate there, including a paper stock recycler, a liquid sea container business, and a container tank cleaning business. As of December 2024, those tenants employed 18 people and generated about $3.1 million in annual sales revenue. Annual groundwater monitoring continues, and five-year reviews have been conducted in 2010, 2015, 2020, and most recently in August 2025.
Community members can get involved through public notices, public meetings, and interviews that EPA holds to share updates and gather input. For questions, residents can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager. Site records are available at the Charleston County Main Library, 68 Calhoun Street, Charleston, South Carolina.
