The Anniston PCB site consists of the area where hazardous substances, including PCBs (associated with the operations of the Anniston plant by Solutia Inc. Monsanto Company, and their predecessors) have come to be located.

Solutia's Anniston plant encompasses approximately 70 acres of land and is located about 1 mile west of downtown Anniston. During its operational history, the plant disposed of hazardous and non-hazardous waste at various areas, including the west end landfill and the south landfill, which are located adjacent to the plant. During the time that the west end landfill and the south landfill were used to dispose of wastes, hazardous substances, including PCBs, were released from the landfills via soils and sediments being transported in surface water leaving the property. In addition, during the time that PCBs were manufactured by Monsanto Company at its Anniston plant, PCBs were discharged directly into a ditch that flowed into Snow Creek.

The cleanup of the Site presents extremely complicated technical issues because a large diverse geographic area is impacted. The area of contamination includes Solutia property, Snow and Choccolocco Creeks, and their floodplains, as well as numerous residential and commercial properties (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), n.d.; See also U.S. v. Pharmacia & Solutia, 2005).

The geographic coverage of the Anniston PCB Site is extensive, and conditions vary from area to area. To effectively plan and implement investigation and assessment tasks, the Site is divided into three Operable Units, or OUs. (Solutia Alternative Remediation Work Plan, 2013).