Diamond Alkali Company was an American chemical company incorporated in 1910 in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
by a group of glass industry businessmen from
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
. The company soon established a large chemical plant at
Fairport Harbor, Ohio
Fairport Harbor is a village in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along Lake Erie at the mouth of the Grand River. The population was 3,109 at the 2010 census.
Fairport Harbor is home to two lighthouses: the Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Li ...
, which would operate for over sixty years. In 1947, the headquarters of the company was moved from Pittsburgh to
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. Later the company established a plant in Redwood City, California, that produced ion-exchange resins. In 1967, Diamond Alkali and Shamrock Oil and Gas merged to form the
Diamond Shamrock
Diamond Shamrock Corp. or Diamond Shamrock Refining and Marketing was an oil refinery and gas station company in the United States, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.
Since 2001, it operates as a brand of Valero and has withdrawn the brand f ...
Valero Energy Corporation
Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power. It is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Throughout the United States and Can ...
in 2001.
Diamond Alkali was largely responsible for contamination leading to the creation of a Superfund Site in the
Ironbound
The Ironbound is a neighborhood in the city of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a large working-class multi-ethnic community, covering approximately of well maintained streets and homes. Historically, the area was cal ...
section of
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Agent Orange. The plant had a reputation for accidents and producing the lowest quality (most contaminated with by-products) herbicides.Morren, George (2007). When the Chips are Down. Furthermore, the firm frequently dumped "bad" batches of the herbicide into the Passaic River. The former plant property and adjoining portions of the Lower Passaic River were declared a Superfund site in 1984. In 1986, the Diamond Shamrock Corporation agreed to pay $150,000 for a canvas
tarpaulin
A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinforce ...
to cover of the contaminated area. Remediation efforts at Diamond Alkali began in 2000 and ecological investigation, dredging, and other cleanup activities are still underway. As of 2020 the EPA indicates that the site is not yet ready for reuse and redevelopment.
The Diamond Shamrock Corp. (Painesville Works) site is an 1,100-acre former chemical manufacturing facility in Lake County, Ohio. The Diamond Shamrock Painesville Works facility operated from 1912 through 1977. It made a variety of products, including soda ash, baking soda, chromium compounds, carbon tetrachloride, hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, chlorinated wax and coke. Facility operations contaminated soil, sediment and surface water with hazardous chemicals. Site cleanup is ongoing.
The cleanup at the site has been divided into 22 portions, also known as Operable Units. U.S. EPA is the lead agency for Operable Unit #16, only one of the 22 Operable Units that comprise the overall Site. The source of pollution in Operable Unit #16 is waste from chromate ore processing placed at the site. Operable Unit #16 was proposed for the National Priorities List but was never added to the list. U.S. EPA will withdraw the Proposal to the NPL for O.U. #16 and transfer all cleanup supervision authority to Ohio EPA. Ohio EPA is directing the cleanup at all the other Operable Units that comprise the Site.
In 1982, Diamond Shamrock completed closure of the area designated as Operable Unit #16. However, the presence of chromate wastes in the landfill cell made it necessary to continue long term monitoring, inspection, and reporting for this area. The closure consisted of installing sheet piling along the Grand River and an impermeable clay cap placed over all the waste areas. U.S. EPA issued a legal order, known as an Administrative Consent Order, in 1983 under the RCRA program to ensure that monitoring continued in the long term.
In 2001, U.S. EPA performed a limited cleanup action. In 2006, the potentially responsible parties upgraded and repaired the clay cap at Operable Unit #16, and improved some of the drainage at and around the site. Groundwater sampling is conducted every two years. The site is currently being addressed by a potentially responsible party under Ohio EPA oversight.
Sheet piling has been installed to control the seeps. Extraction wells behind (upgradient from) the sheet piling extract the contaminated groundwater and prevent overtopping of the sheet piling. Seeps have not been observed since this system was put in place in early 2006. Site cleanup continues under the direction of Ohio EPA.
See also
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Newark Riverfront Park
Newark Riverfront Park is a park and promenade being developed in phases along the Passaic River in Newark, New Jersey, United States. The park, expected to be long and encompass , is being created from brownfield sites along the river, which it ...