EPA secures hazardous waste at Techtrix plant; cleanup pending

Mayor Craig Ford said Gadsden city officials are trying to be informative, not alarming, concerning a hazardous waste situation in the city.

The site in question is the Techtrix Inc. plant on Plainview Avenue, off Tuscaloosa Avenue in City Council Distrct 3.

Environmental Protection Agency officials say about 100,000 gallons of material are stored at the longtime electroplating and metal finishing shop that is no stranger to environmental regulators. That includes 30,000 gallons containing cyanide, Chuck Berry, an on-scene coordinator for the EPA’s emergency response branch in Atlanta, told council members on Sept. 10.

That material is “stabilized,” Berry said, and presents a low risk to the area. The EPA is formulating a plan to remove it, which will likely take several months.

“The community doesn’t need to do anything except be aware they exist,” he added. “But to not recognize that those risks do exist, as close to zero as they are, would be irresponsible of us.”

Ford said he found out about the situation a few days ago, and immediately met with Ruth Moffatt, the city’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion, Gadsden/Etowah EMA Director Derek Mummert and fire and police department leaders to come up with a game plan for the situation.

“My job as mayor is to make sure to protect the people of that district,” he said. “We’re taking it seriously. We’re not trying to alarm people at all, but it’s my duty to inform people.”

Additional fencing is being deployed at the site as are AI-capable surveillance cameras. Ford said extra police patrols also are planned to prevent trespassers who could “unstabilize” the material. Berry said that, along with fire, are the major concerns.

He said the stabilization procedures at Techtrix took place in August, after EPA officials took samples at the site a month earlier and noticed issues with the tanks.

The company, which has been in business since 1987, has a “long history of regulatory interaction with (the Alabama Department of Environmental Management) and the EPA,” according to Berry.

According to a news release from the city, the company was cited for noncompliance by environmental regulators in 2012, 2014 and 2019. Three years ago, it was ordered by the EPA to “take steps to clean up the site” because of issues with misidentification, mismanagement, storage, disposal and treatment of solid and hazardous waste there.

Berry said the company was making “incremental gains” until the death of its owner, Carl Weaver, earlier this year. He said the improvement stopped and the EPA sought to shut Techtrix down, but that Weaver’s estate said it couldn’t do that, “So it falls to my agency.”

Ford said the EPA will provide a progress report to the council every 30 days until the material is removed. EPA officials also will be at a informational meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Carver Community Center.

Council member Larry Avery, who represents District 3, urged residents to attend so they can ask questions and be properly informed about the situation.

Updates will also be available online at www.epa.gov/al under “Hot Topics.”

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Gadsden, EPA officials update public on hazardous waste situation