The Carter Industrials facility is located at 4690 Humboldt, Wayne County, Detroit, Michigan. The site encompasses this location and adjacent properties. The site covers approximately 3.5 acres and contained seven piles of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated soil and debris (approximately 46,000 cubic yards). The site is located in a mixed residential and light industrial neighborhood near downtown Detroit. This residential community comprises almost exclusively low-income minorities. The 1980 Census tracts, which immediately adjoin the Carter site, reported a total population of over 21,000 persons. From 1966 to 1986, the Carter site was used to store and salvage scrap metal. A portion of the scrap metal items, accepted at the Carter site, included electrical capacitors and transformers. During salvage operations at the site, dielectric fluids, containing PCBs, were spilled from electrical capacitors and transformers, contaminating onsite soil.
Commercial, municipal, and residential properties adjacent to the site were contaminated by direct runoff of spilled material; contaminated storm water runoff; wind-blown dust; and tracking of spilled material and contaminated soils by vehicular traffic.
