EPA RCRA ID: PAD002346773
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Facility Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Status
Note: The EPA is the lead agency for managing cleanups at this facility.
On February 29, 2012, Michael Jr. Baker, Inc. conducted an Environmental Inspection (EI) of Westlake Plastics Company, Inc. (Westlake or Facility), on behalf of EPA. The findings of the EI Inspection are documented in an August 2012, EI Inspection Report prepared by Baker. Also presented in the EI Inspection Report is a summary of the information reviewed by Baker in preparation for the EI Inspection, including records maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and EPA. Based on a review of the information presented in the EI Inspection Report, EPA determined in March 2013, that contamination in groundwater and human exposures risk from contaminants were under control.
On April 18, 2013, EPA announced its proposed decision of Corrective Action Complete without Controls under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended, for Westlake. Consistent with public participation provisions under RCRA, EPA requested comments from the public on the proposed decision as described in the March 29, 2013, Statement of Basis (SB). The commencement of a thirty (30) day public comment period was announced in the Delaware County Daily Times newspaper on April 18, 2013, and on the EPA Region 3 website. The public comment period ended on May 17, 2013.
On May 27, 2013, EPA issued its final decision for Westlake in a document entitled the Final Decision and Response to Comments (FDRTC). EPA received no comments on the proposed decision. Consequently, EPA’s final decision is unchanged from the proposal. EPA has determined that its final decision is protective of human health and the environment and that no further corrective action or land use controls are necessary.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. It is not intended as an extensive list of milestones/activities. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table and the Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility table that follows, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
Westlake is located at 490 Lenni Road in Lenni, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The Facility is composed of two separate properties (referred to as Section No. 1 and Section No. 2), which are separated by Lenni Road, Chester Creek, and a privately owned parcel of land. Section No. 1 , the northernmost section, is located in Chester Heights Borough and consists of three parcels of land totaling approximately 8.6 acres. Section No. 1 is bordered on the south by Lenni Road, on the east by Chester Creek, and the west and north by wooded areas. Section No. 2 is located in Middletown Township and consists of two parcels of land totaling approximately 12 acres. Section No. 2 is bordered on the north by Lenni Road, on the west and south by Chester Creek, and on the east by a partially wooded/field area. The area surrounding the Facility is primarily a wooded residential area. A small number of commercial and industrial enterprises are scatter throughout, with the majority located east and south of the Facility.
Westlake was founded in 1951 and purchased the properties that comprise Section No. 1 and Section No. 2 in 1953. Ownership of the property prior to 1953 is unknown; however, the original Facility buildings were constructed in the mid-1850s and were used as a woolen mill. Westlake is a subsidiary of Pacific World Corporation and manufactures thermoplastic and thermoset plastic products by extrusion and compression-molding methods. The products are fashioned by melting plastic pellets (raw material) and forcing the liquid plastic into molds and dies to form the desired shape, such as rods, slabs, sheets, and film. The extrusion process is performed at Section No. 1; Section No. 2 is utilized by the Facility to receive deliveries, store extruded materials prior to annealing, anneal extruded material in hot air ovens, fabricate extruded materials, and store finished products.
Historically, newly formed plastics were annealed in a bath of high temperature lubricating oil (annealing oil) or diethylene glycol to prevent brittleness and remove internal stress created during the extrusion process. Following the annealing process, the plastics were washed with mineral spirits to remove residual oil, generating a mixture of spent annealing oil and mineral spirits (i.e., petroleum naphtha) waste stream. The spent annealing oil/mineral spirit mixture was stored in 55-gallon drums and managed as an ignitable (EPA Hazardous Waste Code D001) characteristic hazardous waste. The spent annealing oil/mineral spirit mixture was reclaimed on-site through distillation to recover the mineral spirits for reuse in the Facility’s manufacturing operations. The waste annealing oil and the still bottoms generated by the distillation unit were determined to be non-hazardous and were shipped off-site for disposal.
In 1994, large hot air ovens were installed in Section No. 2 to replace the annealing baths. As a result, the Facility became a non-generator of hazardous waste.
Contaminants at this Facility
No contaminants above levels of concern exist at the Facility.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls were not required at the facility.
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
Documents available on-line: |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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Governmental Controls (GC) |
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Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | ||||
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Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.