| Strong-Lite Products Corporation, 444 Shipyard Road, Seneca, Illinois |
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| EPA Region |
Location of facility | Type of facility | Amount of ore received (in tons) |
Did EPA visit the site? |
Were samples taken? |
Results of evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 444 Shipyard Road, Seneca, Illinois | Active exfoliation facility | 190.4 | Yes-March 7, 2000 | Yes | According to an EPA database compiled from W.R. Grace shipping invoices, 190.4 tons of vermiculite ore from the Libby mine were shipped to this site in March 1983. According to U.S. Geological Survey reports from 1985, 1990, and 1999, this facility was a vermiculite exfoliation plant. This site was located near the edge of town and near a trailer park. At the time of EPA's site visit, the plant manager said that Strong-Lite was purchased by SunGro Horticulture Inc. in August 1999. The site consisted of a one-story brick office and steel frame warehouse structure. The other portions of the site were asphalt, gravel, or grass. According to the plant manager, the facility had exfoliated vermiculite for approximately 8 years and, to his knowledge, vermiculite ore from Libby, Montana, was never used. At the time of EPA's visit, the vermiculite ore processed at the facility was obtained primarily from South Africa, but also from South Carolina, and Virginia. EPA collected four soil samples from areas where vermiculite ore and waste material was stored. One of the samples taken from the waste material contained less than 1-percent asbestos and the other three samples did not contain detectable levels of asbestos. Both polarized light microscopy (PLM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to analyze the samples. On the basis of this information, EPA determined that no further action was needed. |
| GAO-09-6R |