National Priorities List Contact Us | Print Version Search: EPA Home > Superfund > Sites > National Priorities List (NPL) > Locate NPL Sites > NPL Sites in the US > NPL Site Narrative for American Bemberg Plant NPL Site Listing Process NPL Site Narrative for American Locate NPL Sites Bemberg Plant NPL Site Status Information AMERICAN BEMBERG PLANT Elizabethton, Tennessee Current NPL Updates: New Proposed and Federal Register Notice: September 25, 1997 New Final NPL Sites NPL Resources American Bemberg Plant is located on West Elk Avenue in Basic Query Elizabethton, Carter County, Tennessee. The site is bordered Advanced Query by the Wautaga river to the north, North American Rayon NPL Sites in the US Corporation to the west, and several commercial buildings to HRS Toolbox the south and east. The site is comprised of approximately 131 acres. Some of the central portions of the site are fenced. Many Federal Register areas of the site, including some abandoned buildings, a Notices for lagoon, and a landfill, are easily accessible to the public. Other NPL Updates portions of the site have heavy vegetation or have been covered with asphalt. The site was originally constructed and operated by J.P. Bemberg, a German affiliate of Vereinigte Glanzstoff Fabriken (VGF), a large rayon manufacturing company. Production of rayon using the cuprammonium process began at the plant in October 1926. Approximately 2 years later, VGF constructed a second plant next to Bemberg that used the viscose process to make rayon. This plant later became North American Rayon Corp., which is still an active facility. The wastewater treatment facility on the Bemberg site is still utilized by North American Rayon. After both plants were nationalized during World War II, ownership of the plants was transferred to Beaunit Mills in 1949. In March 1971, the property was sold to Bemberg Industries, Inc., who continued to manufacture rayon until it was sold in bankruptcy in February 1977 to A.J. King. American Bemberg was never regulated by RCRA during its operations as it was closed prior to the promulgation of RCRA. It is unclear when the North American Rayon Corp. was separated from the Bemberg property. Since 1977, the Bemberg property has been subdivided, sold and leased - some portions several times. Several businesses currently occupy the subdivided property, including: Colonial Machinery Sales; EMC Construction; Bemberg Industrial Center; Wal-Mart; Seville Properties, Ltd.; Food Lion; Betsy Towne Inn; Roy Robertson, and the City of Elizabethton. In 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 conducted an Expanded Site Inspection (ESI). Source samples contained elevated concentrations of barium and copper. The lagoon also contained beryllium and mercury at elevated levels. In addition, the landfill also contained manganese, nickel, and toluene at elevated concentrations. Runoff flows off the northwestern edge of the facility property into the Watauga River. From this point of entry, the Watauga River flows west-northwest 10.6 miles where it forms Boone Lake. The 15-mile surface water migration pathway terminates in Boone Lake. A surface water intake for the Johnson City Water Department is located approximately seven miles downstream from the American Bemberg Plant. This intake supplies potable water to approximately 52,978 persons. [The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaulated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination. See 56 FR 5600, February 11, 1991, or subsequent FR notices.] For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888- 42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737. OSWER Home | Superfund Home | Oil Program Home EPA Home | Privacy and Security Notice | Contact Us .