Itron Site - Greenwood, SC

Overview/Site History   

The Itron Site is located at 1310 Emerald Road in Greenwood, SC, 3 miles northeast of the town of Greenwood, in a light industrial and residential area. It is bounded to the north by Emerald Road, to the west by Parkland Place Road and to the south and east by a residential neighborhood. The site consists of approximately 24 acres and a 130,000 square foot building. The site includes: office space; a parking area; production areas; loading docks; an oil water separator; a maintenance shop; and shipping & receiving areas.  

Prior to 1972, the Itron site was used for agricultural purposes. The current building was constructed in 1972 by Neptune Carolina, Inc. to manufacture flow meters.  In April 1972, Neptune Carolina, Inc. transferred ownership of the property to Greenwood County. While the property was owned by Greenwood County for nearly 30 years, the manufacturing of flow meters continued under the operation of Allied Signal, Wheelabrator Frye and Schlumberger Industries. In September 2001, the ownership of the Site changed from Greenwood County to Schlumberger Industries. Schlumberger transferred ownership of the site to Actaris U.S. Liquid Measurement in October 2001. Itron acquired Actaris in 2008. Itron is currently leasing the facility to Red Seal Measurement and retains ownership of the building and property.

Soil and Groundwater Contamination  

A Phase I Environmental Assessment conducted in December 2011 identified possible areas of concern. In 2012, a Phase II Environmental Assessment included installation of soil borings and temporary groundwater monitoring wells which identified tetrachloroethene (PCE) and PCE degradation products in soil and groundwater exceeding regulatory screening levels. Additional investigations were conducted for indoor air, soil and groundwater in 2012. DHEC and Itron entered into a Responsible Party Voluntary Cleanup Contract 13-6078-RP on October 2, 2013.

A 2014 Remedial Investigation (RI) advanced soil borings within and adjacent to the on-site building and a debris pile located in a wooded area east of the building in addition to permanent shallow and deep groundwater monitoring wells. The RI identified potential source areas with the highest concentrations in the vicinity of the Steel Sump and Cardboard Storage Area.  A Supplemental Remediation Investigation Report (Nov 2015) included the installation of additional monitoring wells to define the extent of groundwater impacts. An Addendum to the Supplemental  Remediation Investigation Report  was submitted in March 2017 which presented results of additional groundwater investigation in combination with relevant data obtained in previous investigations. A comprehensive groundwater sampling and analysis event was conducted in April of 2019 for all existing monitoring wells. Groundwater in the shallow aquifer contains PCE as high as 95,000 ug/l, intermediate aquifer ranges from 450 ug/l to 14,000 ug/l and deeper aquifer concentration are as high as 170 ug/l. 

Collective results of investigations identified source areas in the Steel Sump area located on the southeast side of the building and the Cardboard Storage Area located east of the on-site building. PCE is the primary contaminant of concern at the site with lower concentrations of trichloroethene (TCE), cis 1,2 dichloroethene, petroleum hydrocarbons and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil and groundwater.

DHEC’s Preferred Cleanup Alternative  

The Department has identified a preferred alternative to address the contamination in both soil and groundwater at the Site. The preferred remedial alternative is Alternative 6 which combines excavation and disposal of contaminated soil with in situ chemical oxidation using subsurface injections of PersulfOx along with Monitored Natural Attenuation and Institutional Controls.  

Contaminated soils near the southeast corner of the Building and beneath the cardboard storage area would be excavated to mitigate leaching of contamination to groundwater. Non-impacted fill would be used to backfill the excavation. Contaminated soil will be transported to a permitted off-site treatment and/or disposal facility. Mass contaminant removal will prevent further leaching of contamination into groundwater. PersulfOx is a sodium persulfate compound with a built-in patented catalyst that oxidizes chlorinated contaminants in the subsurface. PersulfOx would be injected into the subsurface at varying depths near the steel sump area and beneath the cardboard storage room and throughout the groundwater contaminant plume. MNA and ICs would be used to address residual groundwater contamination following treatment. The total estimated net present worth of this alternative combination is approximately $3.7M.   

Administrative Record 

The Administrative Record includes historic and recent documents used by DHEC in its oversight role. This information can be found in the local Greenwood County Library.  The documents are also provided below for convenient access by those who are interested in learning more about the site.   

Historical Documents: 

Additional Information 

For additional information or to discuss the Itron Site in more detail, please contact:  

Cynde Devlin, Project Manager 
SC DHEC – Bureau of Land and Waste Management 
2600 Bull Street 
Columbia SC 29202 
Email: devlinvl@dhec.sc.gov 
Phone: (803) 898-0816