Utah Power & Light/American Barrel Co.

Overview

This 2.2-acre site in Salt Lake City operated as a barrel storage, wood-treating, and coal gasification facility from 1870 to 1987. Those operations left soil and groundwater contaminated with hazardous materials including tar, sludge, ash, and liquid wastes. The site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL), the federal government's roster of priority Superfund cleanup sites, in October 1989.

EPA identified 34 contaminants of concern at the site. Groundwater contains benzene, toluene, xylene, styrene, naphthalene, phenol, cyanide, lead, antimony, 1,2-dichloroethane, and several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are chemicals formed during the burning or processing of organic materials. Contaminated soil holds lead, multiple PAHs, and dieldrin, a pesticide.

Cleanup work began in the late 1980s with removal actions. Between 1994 and 1996, workers removed 50,000 empty barrels and 20,000 tons of contaminated soil. A soil vapor extraction and groundwater treatment system then ran until 2007, when the site transitioned to monitored natural attenuation, a process where contaminants break down on their own over time while EPA tracks the progress. Monitoring data confirm the contaminated plume has stayed within site boundaries. Institutional controls restrict use of contaminated groundwater, and nearby homes and businesses connect to the municipal water supply rather than any on-site source. The potentially responsible party continues operation and maintenance work.

Physical construction of the cleanup finished on September 30, 1996. The most recent five-year review, completed September 23, 2021, found that cleanup actions remain protective of human health and the environment in the short term. However, that review flagged two issues still needing attention: rising cyanide levels in a monitoring well at the site boundary, and the potential for vapor intrusion into buildings. Human exposure status cannot yet be fully determined. The site has not yet achieved ready-for-anticipated-reuse status, meaning not all cleanup goals tied to current and future land uses have been met. The Utah Transit Authority did build a FrontRunner commuter rail station on the site in 2011, which now serves roughly 13,000 riders per day.

The next five-year review is estimated for September through November 2026. Community members with relevant information can contact the EPA project manager. For general site questions, the EPA Remedial Project Manager is available. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) also manages aspects of the site and can be reached through its own project manager and community involvement specialist.