aqua-tech environmental inc (groce labs)

340 ROBINSON ROAD

The 61.5-acre site is located in rural Spartanburg County, South Carolina, five miles east of Greer and a mile east of Duncan. Site surroundings include commercial businesses to the north, rural homes to the east, Maple Creek and a heavily wooded area to the south, and a tree farm to the west. From 1940 until 1968, the City of Greer used the site as a municipal solid waste landfill. Groce Laboratories purchased the site property from the City of Greer in 1974 and began operating a hazardous waste treatment, storage and reclamation facility over the former landfill. Aqua-Tech Environmental, Inc. (Aqua-Tech) purchased the operation in 1987 and continued to accept, store, and treat most hazardous wastes as well as a variety of other solid wastes. On September 4, 1991, after several citizen complaints and environmental violations, SCDHEC ordered the closure of the facility due to the large volume of improperly stored hazardous waste and the imminent threat to public health. Following the facility’s closure, EPA and SCDHEC emergency response personnel discovered 7,000 drums and lab packs, 97 above-ground tanks, 1,200 gas cylinders, unexploded ordinance material, and small amounts of low-level radioactive material and biohazard material at the site. Many of the drums, tanks and cylinders were deteriorating, leaking and improperly stored. PRPs completed the removal and stabilization of these materials in 1994. The same year, EPA listed the site on the NPL. Apart from site cleanup activities, the site is currently vacant.