36 Companies Will Clean Small Town Pennsylvania Superfund Site

The small town located west of Pittsburgh on the banks of the Ohio River is known for its steep hills, brick streets and large, old homes as well as for the Superfund site that was added to the National Priorities List in 1996.

Industrial activities at the site contaminated soil and groundwater with volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, dioxins, PCBs, metals and cyanide, according to the U.S. EPA and the state of Pennsylvania.

According to the complaint filed in court by the U.S. government, American Tallow operated a meat rendering plant at the site until 1977, when Wiseman Oil Company began fuel oil recycling activities on the property.

After Wiseman Oil went bankrupt in 1982, the property was purchased by Breslube-Penn Inc., which continued used oil reprocessing until 1986, and constructed a lubricating oil refining plant.

The facility was used as a used oil transfer station from 1987 until it was closed in 1992.

A bridge over Montour Run at Coraopolis, Pennsylvania (Photo by Thomas Harper)

The site is surrounded by a steep hillside to the north and west and bordered by Montour Run, a freshwater stream used for fishing, to the east and south. Site surface runoff is reported to drain into Montour Run. There are 94 people within one mile of the site who utilize groundwater.

Public drinking water supplies are not contaminated at this time, but the EPA says potential does exist for migration of contaminated groundwater, posing a risk of exposure for 33,634 residents who live within one to three miles of the site.

The federal government sued potentially responsible parties in 1997, including facility owners and operators, waste generators and waste transporters that were involved with industrial activities at the site.

According to the legal settlement filed today in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, the settling companies have agreed to fund and/or complete a $12 million cleanup.

They also have agreed to reimburse EPA $3 million in past costs at the site, and to pay for EPA’s future costs, which include oversight of the cleanup.

"EPA is pleased with a settlement that allows the parties to concentrate their efforts on the cleanup rather than the courthouse," said William Early, acting administrator of EPA’s Mid-Atlantic region.

The United States has collected more than $4.2 million in prior settlements with other parties, bringing the total value of the judicial settlements involving this site to more than $19 million.

"As a result of this settlement, the Breslube-Penn Superfund Site will be cleaned up and taxpayers will be reimbursed for money already spent to respond to contamination at the site," said John Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

The state of Pennsylvania, which also signed the consent decree, will be reimbursed $41,000 for its past enforcement costs and will also recover future response costs.

Nine of the 36 companies have agreed to conduct the EPA-approved cleanup - AK Steel, Alcoa Inc., CBS Corporation, Elliot Company, Exxon Mobil Corp., Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Hussey Copper Ltd., and U.S. Steel.

Under the settlement, these nine companies will remove oil and other pollutants and then install a cap and slurry wall containment system to prevent the release of any additional contaminants. These companies also will remediate the groundwater outside the containment area.

The remaining defendants have agreed to help fund the cleanup.

The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public notice and comment period, and final court approval.

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