Monthly Community Call
EPA and our state and local partners host a community
call the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 9 am. The community
calls are open to the public. Please submit any questions or comments to Angela
Ithier and John
Brakeall by 5 pm on the 2nd Monday of each month. The
call with be canceled if EPA does not receive any questions or comments. Ground rules (PDF) for the calls can be viewed online.
Calls for the remainder of the 2025 calendar year:
- Wednesday,
July 9, 2025
- Wednesday,
August 13, 2025
- Wednesday,
September 10, 2025
- Wednesday,
October 8, 2025
- Wednesday,
November 12, 2025
- Wednesday,
December 10, 2025
Join using Microsoft Teams
Call-in option:
- Dial: (202) 991-0477
- Enter conference ID: 157 924 883#
Fairmont Brine Community Involvement Plan (CIP)
EPA has finalized a Community Involvement Plan (PDF) for the site. The CIP describes how EPA will involve the community and address local needs during the Superfund removal process. EPA and the community will work together by using the tools described in this plan.
Active public involvement is crucial to the success of any project. EPA’s community involvement activities at the site are designed to inform the public of all cleanup activities and include the community in the decision-making process.
Click here to review the CIP.
Biweekly Update 6/27/25
- Removal work is underway at the Fairmont Brine site. Activities include:
Completed decontaminating 94 filter press plates which contained filter cake. Filter cake was captured into a box for disposal.
- Dismantled the upper twenty feet of the oil tank involved in the 2023 fire. The base of the tank remains in the hot zone for treatment and disposal of the sludge bottoms.
- Contaminated facility equipment debris around the tank area was moved to the debris staging area.
- EPA contractors removed debris, including tree roots and soil, resulting from a mudslide onto AFR Road following the June 15, 2025 flash flooding event. All debris and material were screened for radiation before, during, and after the cleanup work. No exceedances of radiation were observed along AFR Road. The road was also completely scanned for radiation prior to re-opening AFR Road.
- Sampled runoff area from hillside and sent for metals analysis on June 17th. This area was previously sampled for radiation during an initial EPA assessment. Sampling results indicated that heavy metals such as lead, barium and selenium are not migrating off the site.
• Conducted a dye test study to determine the possible source of the water discharge onto AFR Road downgradient from the lower impoundment. No dye has been observed in any of the hillside seeps along AFR road since conducting the study.
- Conducted air monitoring for radiation and particulates throughout the duration of site activities. To date no air exceedances have been observed indicating that no airborne contamination is leaving the site.
- Fortified containment on the upper and lower impoundments.
- Screened all personnel, tools, equipment, and vehicles prior to exiting the hot zone to ensure contamination does not exit the zone.
Additional Updates:
- Security cameras have been installed at the site allowing for 24/7 video surveillance.
- EPA, and contractor personnel ,regularly screen AFR Road with radiation monitoring equipment.
- EPA is coordinating the disposal of the repackaged materials.
Previous
site updates have been archived and made publicly available under the
“Documents” tab. The most recent document can be found here: Archived site updates from 6/27/25.
Site
Overview:
The Fairmont Brine site is located at 168 AFR
Drive in Fairmont, West Virginia. The Brine processing facility was constructed
between 2009 and 2010 by the AOP Clearwater LLC. The plant was acquired
by Fairmont Brine Processing (FBP) in 2012. FBP began pre-treatment
operations at the site in 2013 and fully
operated the plant in fall of 2014. FBP ceased operations at the
site in March 2018.
The plant accepted flowback and produced fluids , known as "Brine" from the
hydraulic fracturing process used to extract natural gas. FBP used chemical and carbon filter media,
multiple-effect evaporation, and crystallization to treat and process the brine
they received. This produced sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and distilled
water. By-products created from the process include sludge
and filter cake material. Produced fluids from fracking operations
can contain Technically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials,
known as "TENORM". Click
here to learn more about TENORM.
On May 30, 2023, there was a fire and subsequent explosion
at the site damaging an above ground storage tank and the upper process
building. Following the fire, elevated readings of TENORM radiation were
found in several areas of the site. Click here
for general information about radiation sources and doses.
