The United States Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to clean up misidentified and improperly stored hazardous waste at the former Techtrix facility in Gadsden, Alabama.
Former owner Carl Weaver died in March 2024. Techtrix performed electroplating and metal finishing since its founding in 1987. The 50,000-square-foot operations building is on more than five acres of property on Plainview Street.
“Unfortunately, this is another previously unaddressed problem in Gadsden that we have inherited,” says Mayor Craig Ford. “We are committed to working with the EPA and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, who can use their expertise combined with state and federal resources to get this site cleaned up safely and quickly. While we haven't been given an official timeline, one thing is certain: as long as I am mayor, I won't let up on those responsible.”
Cited for Noncompliance by Regulators
Techtrix was cited for noncompliance by environmental regulators in 2012, 2014, and 2019. In 2021, the EPA determined that the company had issues of misidentification, mismanagement, storage, disposal, and treatment of solid and hazardous waste and ordered Techtrix to take steps to clean up the site.
According to the EPA, their agency and ADEM achieved some success with bringing the facility into full compliance, but the death of the owner earlier this year shut the facility down. In March after Weaver’s death, the estate declared it could not complete required cleanup and closure actions.
“It then became necessary for EPA to assess the site for a cleanup,” the EPA says in a statement. “In July 2024, EPA conducted a site assessment, which included samples of the wastes and soil outside the facility. While the complete sampling results are still preliminary, they confirm liquid containing cyanide, stored in totes and vats, and corrosive wastes. An emergency response was initiated in August 2024 after a follow-up site visit revealed several damaged tanks that were leaking and in danger of critically failing. The response action included emptying the tanks of the liquids and disconnecting utilities.”
EPA Begins Necessary Closure Actions
With no one to continue disposing of the waste, EPA began the process of assuming the necessary closure actions. EPA’s Superfund and Emergency Management Division initiated an immediate response action in August after identifying leaking storage tanks.
The Gadsden-Etowah Emergency Management Agency, the Gadsden Fire Department, and the Gadsden Police Department are coordinating with EPA to assist if needed.
“The Site has been assessed and is secured,” the EPA says in a statement. “The cleanup is being performed as a time-critical removal action to permanently remove the material from the site and protect human health and the environment. The cleanup is expected to be completed within the next few months. All contaminated wastes will be sent to an approved off-site disposal facility. EPA will maintain on-site security until the contaminated materials are safely disposed of.”
