The Henryetta Iron and Metal facility (“facility”) is located at 1420 W. Main Street, Henryetta,
Okmulgee County, OK 74437. The facility consists of two parcels of land split by West Main Street.
The facility is the former location of a metals recovery facility (i.e. scrapyard). The facility is not
currently active as a scrapyard. Scrapyard operations consist of acquiring various metal-containing
objects from various sources, processing, and segregating those metals for shipment to a variety of
customers.
The facility currently has various scrap metals piles, equipment, and office/operations buildings located
on-site. An intermittent creek, Dutch Creek, runs through the western portion of the facility. Dutch
Creek is a tributary to Coal Creek. The facility is bordered by residential properties to the north and
south and commercial properties to the east and west.
The areas of contamination that will be addressed by this removal action are the facility property, city
rights-of-ways, and Dutch Creek (“Site”).
In 2003, a complaint was filed with Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) on
Henryetta Iron and Metal. The complaint claimed that compressor oil, motor oil, and vehicular fluids
saturated the site. ODEQ investigated the facility and found oil contaminated soil and several engine
blocks. The engines blocks were later removed and soil samples were collected from areas formerly
containing the engine blocks. The total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) value was 9560 mg/kg. A sample
was collected from Dutch Creek (a tributary of Coal Creek) that runs through the site and the TPH value
for that sample was 716 mg/kg. Piles of ash and wire were also found on the facility. Samples also
indicated PCB’s were found on-site above the EPA’s screening levels.On September 9, 2003, an ODEQ
consent order was signed and a fine was issued to the facility owner.
In 2008, the City of Henryetta contracted to have a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA)
conducted on the facility. The Phase I ESA Report dated October 4, 2008 concluded the following: one
Documentation of a Removal Action at the Henryetta Iron and Metal Superfund Site 4
recognized environmental condition, one historical recognized environmental condition, and several
other potential concerns were identified in the Findings section of the report. The property has
historically been used as a metal salvage yard since at least the 1930’s. Other businesses have occupied
the property, including a blacksmith, a welding facility, a motor freight line, a pipe and supply company,
and a store with one or more gasoline underground storage tanks. PCBs have reportedly been disposed
of on the property, and ODEQ testing has indicated that PCBs, metals, and TPH exist in the soil at
concentrations exceeding Federal and/or State guidelines. A soil and groundwater sampling program is
recommended to determine if there are any current environmental conditions in connection with past
usage of the property.
Phase I Findings:
• The subject property reportedly received electrical transformers in the 1950s and the following
several decades from Public Service of Oklahoma. PCB-containing oils from the transformers was
reportedly spilled on the ground and possibly placed in drums and buried along the north central
edge of the property.
• The ODEQ sampled soil in several locations across the facility between 1982 and 2007 and
submitted the samples for laboratory analyses. Results of the analyses available for review during
this assessment indicated that some of the samples contained concentrations of TPH, PCBs and
heavy metals above State and/or EPA guidelines. According to the property owner, cleanup of
specific areas was conducted in accordance with ODEQ demands; however, no documentation of
waste removal or disposal, or confirmatory sampling of the areas was discovered during this
assessment.
• An apparent vent pipe consistent with an underground storage tank (UST) was observed near the
northeast corner of the office building on the northern portion of the property. A UST may have been
used at this location for heating oil, gasoline, waste oil, or some other purpose.
• According to a 1928 Sanborn fire insurance map, a store with a gasoline UST existed at the northeast
corner of the southern portion of the property. The nature of the business is unknown, and the UST
still may remain at this location.
• A gasoline station has existed adjacent to the eastern edge of the northern portion of the property
from at least 1949 to the present. This station has maintained petroleum underground storage tanks.
• An oil company, and possibly auto service station, existed adjacent to the western edge of the
northern property circa 1953. This facility may have used petroleum storage tanks and may have
generated waste oil and other hazardous materials.
• An auto junk and salvage business existed adjacent to the western edge of the southern property
since at least 1928. This location later contained a trucking company with underground and above
ground petroleum storage tanks (which are apparently still in place).
• The subject property reportedly dealt in used oilfield pipe in at least the 1960s-1970s. Used oilfield
pipe may be contaminated with radioactive materials.
In March 2010, a Phase II ESA was conducted through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through the
EPA Targeted Brownfields Assessment Program. The Phase II ESA Report is dated June 2010. The
purpose of the Phase II was to evaluate the property and to sample potential sources of contamination
identified in the previous Phase I. The Phase II found various constituents of hazardous semi-volatile
organic compounds, metals, and polychlorinated biphenyls on-site. The Phase II also indicated that
contamination existed in the groundwater of the site as well.
In March 2010, a radiation survey was conducted by the ODEQ on eight drums, oilfield pipes, and a
steel diesel tank found on site.
Documentation of a Removal Action at the Henryetta Iron and Metal Superfund Site.
In December 2010, the EPA Removal Program and the ODEQ did a follow-up to the radiation survey
conducted in March 2010. Screening indicated the presence of mostly radium-226 and radiation levels
as high as 1.2 millirems per hour. The facility owner was instructed to overpack and secure the drums
and arrange for them to be properly removed and disposed. Drums were removed from the property on
March 11, 2011 by the facility owner’s contractor.
In 2016, the EPA Removal Program conducted a Ground Penetrating Radar and Electromagnetic
Induction survey of the facility in an attempt to identify drums that were purportedly buried on the
facility. The survey did not identify locations of buried drums.
In 2017, the ODEQ conducted a Remedial Site Inspection (SI) which focused on off-site sampling of
residential soils and surface water sediments. The report is dated March 31, 2017. The report
conclusions were as follows:
• The surface water pathway was evaluated using sediment samples collected from Dutch Creek that
runs through the site, and Coal Creek that is located downstream from the facility. Elevated metal
and SVOC concentrations were found in several sediment samples. PCBs were also analyzed and
were also detected within the site boundaries and downstream of the facility. PCBs were not detected
in sediments upstream of the facility. Therefore, it is believed that PCB contamination migrating off
the facility is attributed to the facility.
• The soil exposure pathway was evaluated using soil samples of residential properties located
adjacent to the facility. Elevated metal, SVOC, and PCB concentrations were found in several soil
sample locations above the Regional Screening Levels (RSLs).
In October 2017, the ODEQ conducted a Remedial Expanded Site Investigation (ESI) focused on
facility soil and surface sediment sampling. The report is dated March 28, 2018. The facility sampling
identified elevated concentrations for metals, SVOCs, and PCBs. The sediment sampling identified
elevated concentrations for metals, SVOCs, and PCBs. It appears that approximately one-half mile of
the creek has been impacted by contaminants from the facility.
In March 2018, the EPA Removal Program conducted a surface soil investigation of residential
properties downgradient of the southern portion of the facility. The investigation revealed elevated
concentrations of metals, SVOCs, and PCBs. The EPA has determined that the elevated concentrations
are a result of off-site migration of the contaminants from the facility.
On October 8 – November 12, 2018, the EPA Removal Program conducted a residential cleanup action
on 3 residential properties, adjacent rights-of-ways and an alleyway south of the industrial
property. The cleanup included the removal and disposal of contaminated soils as well
as TENORM contaminated soils and oil field piping. These properties were restored with clean topsoil
and sod/rock and the installation of a metal fence between the industrial property and the residential
properties.
On November 2 – 14, 2020, the EPA Removal Program conducted a removal assessment on the
Henryetta Iron and Metal facility as well as associated rights-of-ways, alleyway, and Dutch Creek to
determine any impact to those areas as well as extent of such impact. Additionally, a radiation survey
was conducted on site due to historical evidence of TENORM contamination associated with the site.
Documentation of a Removal Action at the Henryetta Iron and Metal Superfund Site.
On May 10, 2021, the EPA Removal Program mobilized to the site to perform a radiation background
study to assist in developing radiation cleanup goals and to do additional on-site sampling for total
chromium and hexavalent chromium to determine if hexavalent chromium was present at a level to be a
contaminant of concern. The radiation background study resulted in taking 20 background radiation
samples in order to determine normal background for the area for site comparison purposes. The
chromium evaluation resulted in taking 6 samples for total chromium and hexavalent chromium and it
confirmed that hexavalent chromium was not a contaminant of concern
