The LP site operated as a specialty chemical manufacturer for more than 40 years, from 1966 to 2009.  The product lines included dyes, farm chemicals, drilling fluid chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, and general specialty chemicals.  The property has been abandoned since December of 2010, with power off to most or all of the property.

The property includes 125 acres of land surrounded by agricultural, rural residential, and undeveloped property.  The closest cross road is Keans Neck Road, located to the northeast.  Currently the site maintains a portion of the chemical processing structures, a storage/warehouse, a lab testing area, offices and the waste water treatment facility.  Part of the processing facility has been demolished but the rubble remains onsite; there is concern for asbestos in the demolition debris. 

The site was initially owned by Tenneco Chemicals, Inc. The Tenneco Chemicals Berkshire Color Division constructed the plant for the production of dyestuff intermediates in 1967.   
 

While operating under Tenneco the facility used Monsanto Corporation’s Aroclor 1248 PCB product as a heat transfer oil.  The hot oil system in which Aroclor 1248 was used malfunctioned at times.  Untreated liquids from an on-site lagoon were discharged directly into an adjacent stream, Whale Branch, which flows into Campbell Creek, and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean.   In 1983 SC DHEC conducted an in-stream assessment of Campbell Creek and Whale Branch.  A follow up SC DHEC study in December 1984 revealed the presence of PCBs in the immediate vicinity of the Lobeco plant effluent discharge point.  As a result of this finding the facility conducted groundwater testing and produced a groundwater monitoring report which revealed the presence of PCBs at the Lobeco Plant. 

Based on this information Tenneco Products commissioned further tests in order to characterize the extent and location of the PCB problem at the Lobeco Plant.  Initial soil borings indicated the presence of PCBs in the abandoned lagoon.  In 1986 G & E Engineering, hired by SC DHEC, issued a preliminary investigation report pinpointing the location of the PCB contamination at the lagoon and burn site areas. In 1987, under the first of three SC DHEC consent orders, cleanup of the PCBs commenced and was concluded by November 1991. A subsequent well survey of residential wells was performed and found no PCB contamination of groundwater existed in the neighboring wells.