| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| Late 1960s | Industrial Chemical Company, Inc. and Quality Drum Company, Inc. (operating on separate property parcels) received waste solvents from other facilities. These operators stored the solvents in drums and tanks and recovered solvents through distillation. Wastes that were left after the distillation process (called still bottoms) were sent to a local landfill. |
| 1981 | A hazardous waste incinerator was installed to treat still bottoms (distillation waste). The facility also began to process a broader variety of waste streams. |
| 12/1982 | Quality Drum and Industrial Chemical merged. |
| 06/1983 | Stablex South Carolina, Inc. acquired all four parcels of the facility property. At that time, approximately 26,000 drums of waste and 200,000 gallons of bulk liquid waste were stored onsite. |
| 1986 | American NuKEM Corporation purchased the stock of Stablex. |
| 11/1986 | Stablex South Carolina, Inc. began operating under the assumed name of ThermalKEM, Inc. ThermalKEM operated as a hazardous waste incinerator and storage facility under RCRA interim status (EPA I.D. No. SCD044442333). |
| 11/1995 | Philip Services Corporation (PSC) purchased the stock of Stablex/ThermalKEM and its subsidiary, Petro-Chem, and took over operation and management of the facility. |
| 12/1995 | PSC ceased operation of the hazardous waste incinerator. However, PSC continued to operate the facility as a fuel blending, storage, and transfer facility until 1999. During the years of operation, the facility sustained two large structural fires. |
| 1998 | PSC submitted an incinerator closure plan. |
| 06/2003 | PSC filed for bankruptcy protection. |
| 12/2003 | DHEC assumed environmental management responsibilities. As part of the bankruptcy action, a custodial trust account (approximately $4.3 million) was established to provide some funding for environmental activities. It was determined that the funds in the custodial trust account would be inadequate to complete any remedy. DHEC began initial investigation and cleanup activities, including taking over operation of the groundwater treatment system. |
| 2004 | DHEC demolished the former incinerator building and filled an open excavation adjacent to the building. DHEC also initiated a remedial investigation, which included several phases to determine the source, nature, and extent of soil and groundwater contamination. DHEC installed more than 50 groundwater monitoring wells and conducted comprehensive sampling. DHEC began identifying potentially responsible parties (PRPs). |
| 2005 | DHEC upgraded the groundwater treatment system to make it more efficient and cost effective. |
| 09/2008 | DHEC issued its Remedial Investigation Report. The findings identified extensive areas of soil and groundwater contamination. |
| 07/2011 | DHEC completed a Feasibility Study that evaluated cleanup alternatives. |
| 08/2014 | DHEC identified its preferred cleanup alternative in a Proposed Plan for remedial action. |
| 08/26/2014 | DHEC's Proposed Plan meeting. |
| 06/22/2016 | Record of Decision (ROD) completed for the site. |
Since the completion of the Record of Decision (ROD) in 2016, the Department has continued to operate the existing groundwater treatment system, collect additional samples, and manage other environmental activities at the site.
DHEC also continued negotiations with the Philip Services Site Potentially Responsible Parties Group (PRP Group). A proposed settlement between DHEC and the PRP Group was reached in 2020 and a public comment period was established. The proposed settlement was withdrawn to allow the United States of America (on behalf of federal agency PRPs) to join in the settlement. The updated settlement between DHEC, the PRP Group, and the United States of America was put on public notice on January 28, 2022. The public comment period was initially scheduled to expire on February 28, 2022, but it was extended to April 29, 2022.