Mile 89.6 - LBD - Former Kaiser Aluminum Site

89.6 LBD - Former Kaiser Aluminum Site

In 1951 Kaser Aluminum built an aluminum smelting plant in Chalmette, La. taking advantage of inexpensive natural gas, government incentives and a high demand for aluminum from the U.S. government stockpile. Alumina (aluminum oxide), made from bauxite at the Kaiser plant in Gramercy, La., was electrolytically reduced to aluminum in 1,296 reduction cells with cryolite (NaAlF6) and caustic wash. The plant was producing 260,000 tons of aluminum per year at its peak production.

At least two areas at the site have have legacy contamination issues. On the east side of the facility was a power plant consisting of two long buildings which housed electrical generating equipment. In 1992 tetrachloroethylene, toluene, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, and vinyl chloride contamination was found in the groundwater at the site. In 1995 cis-1,2-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride contamination was found in soils at the site. In 2000 a remediation effort was undertaken. 1,752 tons of contaminated soil was removed and disposed of in River Birch Landfill in Jefferson Parish. And 12,600 gallons of contaminated groundwater was removed and disposed of in an injection well at what is now Plaquemine Remediation Services LLC in Bayou Sorrell, La.

Over the decades a rectangular tract of land to the west of the plant was used by the facility to dispose of wastes in landfills and treatment ponds. The area now has a 30 foot tall hill of waste covered with a clay “cap.” This waste primarily consists of spent potliner a reactive and corrosive material that contains fluorides and cyanides as well as metals. The former Kaiser Aluminum plant site is now owned by St. Bernard parish and is used for the Chalmette Terminal and Industrial Park. (Paul Orr)

More Info: http://rpcbrownfields.org/files/KaiserAluminumSitePhaseIESAFinalReport.pdf