WV DEP approves cleanup plan for former zinc smelting site in Harrison County

An environmental cleanup plan for West Virginia’s Spelter Smelter site, located in Harrison County, recently gained approval from the West Virginia Department Environmental Protection (DEP), advancing the former zinc smelting site’s restoration.

The site, registered in the DEP’s Voluntary Remediation Program as VRP #02773, was used for zinc production from the 1900s to the early 2000s, leaving it contaminated with metals associated with the manufacturing process. The 114.3 acres site, located on County Route 19/33, is currently not in use, but following restoration the current owners, which include the Chemours Company FC LLC and the West Virginia State Rail Authority, plan to convert the majority of the land for industrial and commercial purposes, though part of it will be dedicated to residential and recreational use.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. submitted the recently approved cleanup method, which will build upon remediation efforts already underway. Former manufacturing structures on the site have been demolished, and materials and residues contaminated by zinc production were moved into a 42.6 acre area before being covered with an engineered cap. The site’s groundwater is still contaminated and use of it is restricted to monitoring and remediation purposes.