Union Chemical Company

Union Chemical Company, Inc., operated a chemical plant in Knox County, Maine, that opened in 1967 for formulating paint and coating strippers. The 12-acre operation was expanded in 1969 to handle and recover petrochemical-based solvents, and in the late 1970's commissioned a fluidized bed incinerator to burn sludge and other hazardous waste. The plant was cited repeatedly by the State of Maine between 1979 and 1984 for violating multiple operating licenses.

Environmental Impact

Buildings on the Union Chemical site were found to have heavy metals, dioxins and asbestos. Suspected contaminants also included VOCs such as xylenes, trichloroethylene and tetrachlorethylene. As many as 2,000 storage drums, waste containers and 30 liquid storage tanks were suspected to have discharged waste into surface water, including Quiggle Brook adjacent to the site.

Improper handling, leaking drums and a septic tank contaminated surface and ground water, threatening 200 people within a half-mile radius. Officials feared contamination of Grassy Pond, an alternate drinking water source for nearly 23,000 people, a mile east of the site.

Cleanup

After the State closed the site in 1984, all surface drums and about 100,000 gallons of liquid waste and sludge were removed. The collaborative State and EPA effort also removed contaminated soil. The EPA initiated on-site soil treatment in 1990, and treated groundwater and discharged it into the local brook. The agency also decontaminated and demolished buildings and disposed of debris off-site.

After continued monitoring, the EPA and Maine Department of Environmental Protection treated the soil and groundwater again in 1994. A groundwater extraction system, installed in 1996, was deactivated in late 2000 when updated EPA data showed contamination was confined to within the property and did not threaten public health.

Asbestos in Chemical Plants

In much of the last century, in cases where flame or extreme heat was a concern, various forms of asbestos were used as an insulator. Materials made with asbestos, accordingly, were commonly utilized when erecting facilities such as Union Chemical Company's plant in Knox County. In addition to being fireproof as well as heat-proof, various kinds of amphibole asbestos are also particularly resistant to chemical reactions. Because of this, asbestos was used in lab equipment and protective clothing. And while the asbestos served its purpose well in safeguarding against fire damage and in protecting life and property from excessive heat, the mineral also exposed those same people to significant health risks.

Amosite was almost always the type of asbestos utilized in such locations. The brown tint associated with amosite comes from iron in its chemical composition; this also causes amosite to be resistant to corrosive chemicals like those produced in chemical plants. Used for decades in the form of asbestos transite in laboratories and oil refineries across the US, amosite was eventually prohibited from use as a construction material in the 1970s.

Like cement, asbestos transite could be sprayed onto ductwork and pipes, molded into working surfaces and laminated. As long as it remained solid, this form of asbestos posed little risk. As transite with asbestos containing material (ACM) ages and become prone to becoming powdery, however, deadly, microscopic fibers are able to flake off into the air. In this state, it is considered friable, or able to be reduced to powder by hand pressure alone. Also, industrial kilns frequently contained friable asbestos in insulation linings.

Why Is Friable Asbestos a Problem?

Friable asbestos is a problem because in this condition the fibers can be readily released into the air. Breathing asbestos fibers can result in conditions such as asbestosis or cancer. In addition, inhaling asbestos is the primary cause of pleural mesothelioma, a rare and often fatal cancer of the mesothelium, the tissue that lies between the lungs and the chest cavity. Pericardial and peritoneal mesothelioma are linked to swallowing asbestos fibers, which is likely when microscopic particles are released into the air and settle on food or drinks.

In the last twenty years scientists and researchers have learned a lot about the risks associated with asbestos exposure; therefore there are stringent laws regulating its use. The use of asbestos was much more prevalent, however, when places like Union Chemical Company's plant in Knox County were first operating. Before modern laws were enacted, workers frequently toiled without protective equipment in spaces where asbestos particles filled the air.

The Lurking Hazard of Asbestos

Asbestos cancer, in contrast to typical work-related injuries, which are readily observed and known about soon after the incident, can take ten, twenty, or even thirty years to manifest. With such a long time between asbestos exposure and the onset of symptoms, a worker might not even associate the current condition with work he or she did decades ago. It is extremely important, therefore, that those who were employed by or lived near sites such as Union Chemical Company's plant in Knox County tell their health care professionals about the possibility of asbestos exposure and a mesothelioma treatment guide. In addition, all those who shared homes with these people are also in danger, as unless effective decontamination protocols, including the use of workplace-only clothing and on-site showers, were followed, it was common for workers to bring particles of asbestos on their skin, in their hair, or on their clothes.

Sources

Scorecard - The Pollution Information Site, Superfund Site Report: Union Chemical Co., Inc.
http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/land/site.tcl?epa_id=MED042143883#threats

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) - Laboratories and Shops
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/ASB/acmimages3.html

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Disposal
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/HAZEXCEPTIONS/a.html

USEPA - Waste Site Cleanup and Reuse in New England
http://yosemite.epa.gov/...