Supreme Perlite Company, 4600 North Suttle Road, Portland, Oregon
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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
10 4600 North Suttle Road, Portland, Oregon Former exfoliation facility 660 Yes-April 26, 2000 Yes According to an EPA database compiled from W.R. Grace shipping invoices, 660 tons of vermiculite ore from the Libby mine were shipped to this site between December 1971 and April 1974. This site was located in an industrial area of north Portland near the Columbia River. From 1968 through 1974, Supreme Perlite received shipments of Libby vermiculite ore that were processed at this site and sold as attic insulation. The nearest residences were approximately 50 houseboats ¼-mile to the northeast on the Columbia River. The closest residential neighborhoods were approximately 1.25 miles northeast and 1.5 miles south. Vermiculite ore was delivered to this facility in covered railcars on a former railroad spur on the south side of the facility. After the vermiculite ore was exfoliated in the furnace, it was bagged for sale as insulation. EPA visited this site in April 2000 and collected five soil samples and two dust samples in and around the plant. Three of the soil samples contained less than 1-percent asbestos (trace amounts) and one sample contained 1.2-percent asbestos (this sample was collected from the former rail spur/vermiculite unloading area). The remaining soil sample and the two dust samples did not contain detectable levels of asbestos. The samples were analyzed using polarized light microscopy (PLM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The property owner conducted additional soil sampling and it was determined that the site needed to be cleaned up. In April 2001, the property owner completed a removal of contaminated material along the former railroad spur where vermiculite ore had been unloaded. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) health consultation report for this site can be found at ATSDR.

GAO-09-6R