Georgia Pacific Corporation/Acme Gypsum/Bestwall Gypsum, Street address unknown, Highway 287, Quanah, Texas
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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
6 Street address unknown, Highway 287, Quanah, Texas Gypsum board manufacturer 450 Yes-July 27, 2000 No According to an EPA database compiled from W.R. Grace shipping invoices, 450 tons of vermiculite ore from the Libby mine were shipped to this facility between May 1967 and March 1974. EPA found that this facility produced gypsum products, including wallboard, joint compound, and textured materials. The facility, in a remote location with no residential areas nearby, had originated as a plaster plant in 1898 and had been producing wallboard since the 1930s. Georgia-Pacific purchased the facility in 1974. When EPA visited, Georgia-Pacific was using vermiculite to manufacture several fire-resistant products. The company obtained the vermiculite from the W.R. Grace facility in Enoree, South Carolina (this facility is listed separately in this database). The vermiculite was received in sacks and then manually poured into feeder hoppers that added the vermiculite to the gypsum slurry. While the company had obtained vermiculite from the Libby, Montana, mine in the past, after W.R. Grace began labeling the Libby vermiculite as potentially containing asbestos, the company switched to the ore from South Carolina. At the time of EPA’s investigation, the facility also received expanded vermiculite from a company called Strong-Lite, and this vermiculite was added to a joint compound to make it textured. (EPA had no information about where the Strong-Lite company was located.) The Georgia-Pacific officials said they had attempted to expand vermiculite at the site approximately 25 years before EPA's visit but experienced poor results. The company had a landfill located on-site for waste disposal. EPA did not observe any vermiculite waste at the site. On the basis of its investigation, EPA determined no further action was needed.

GAO-09-6R