The Acme Solvents Reclaiming plant sits on a 20-acre property in unincorporated Winnebago County, Illinois, about five miles south of Rockford. Between 1960 and 1970, the site stored and disposed of 10,000 to 15,000 drums of waste in seven on-site lagoons. It was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 1983, making it a federal Superfund site eligible for structured cleanup.
Soil at the site contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs), phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals including lead, arsenic, cadmium, and chromium. Groundwater is contaminated with VOCs at levels above acceptable limits. Chlorinated solvents make up a large portion of the contaminants of concern, including trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, vinyl chloride, and 1,1,1-trichloroethane. Benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, and naphthalene are also present. In total, the EPA has identified 47 contaminants of concern across soil, groundwater, and air.
The final cleanup decision was signed in 1990 and modified in 1994 and 1998. Cleanup work covered eight operable units and included fencing, excavation and thermal treatment of contaminated soil, soil vapor extraction, tank removal, and a groundwater pump-and-treat system. An alternate water supply was provided to homes affected by the groundwater plume. Physical construction of the cleanup was mostly complete by July 1998. Soil has been remediated or covered, and institutional controls including zoning restrictions are in place to prevent residential use of the property.
Human exposure is under control. Alternate water supplies are available to people in the plume area, and current exposure pathways do not pose unacceptable risks. Groundwater migration is also being monitored to make sure contamination stays contained and does not reach surface water. The groundwater pump-and-treat system ran from September 1994 through January 2000, and site monitoring continues. The EPA conducts five-year reviews regularly, with the most recent completed in September 2022 and the next expected between September and November 2027. The site has not yet been deleted from the NPL, and cleanup goals have not been fully met across all current and future land uses.
Community members who want to learn more or ask questions can contact the EPA's Remedial Project Manager. Physical records related to the site are also available at the Rockford Public Library at 215 N. Wyman Street in Rockford, Illinois.
