Read the full article by Julia Rentsch (Salisbury Daily Times)
“The July 2020 discovery of hazardous chemicals in soil and groundwater near a New Castle County chemical plant resulted Tuesday in the company reaching a settlement with the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, LLC is an international company that recently closed and decommissioned its facility, which operated from 1998 to 2020, at 800 Greenbank Road in Prices Corner. The facility processed polytetrafluoroethylene, a heat-resistant polymer with numerous applications, and sold it as a fine powder, according to a release from DNREC Tuesday.
In September 2020, DNREC found Solvay to have been a ‘potentially responsible party’ for the release of a type of PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The type of PFAS released, known as PFOA, is considered a hazardous substance by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The chemical was discovered during a July 2020 site inspection, according to the settlement. PFOA was found immediately upstream of Solvay’s filters and exhausts, and in soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water at locations near the facility, according to the settlement…”