EPA RCRA ID: PAD002399285
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. Corrective action is a requirement under RCRA that facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes, or did so in the past, investigate and clean up hazardous releases into soil, groundwater, surface water and air. For more information, and for more information on RCRA-specific terms used on this page, please visit EPA’s umbrella RCRA web page or EPA’s RCRA Corrective Action page.
On this page:
- Cleanup Activities
- Facility Description
- Institutional/Engineering Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Activities
The American Nickeloid Company (ANC) has been under an EPA Administrative Order since 1993. Under the Order, American Nickeloid began implementation of remedies at the following areas: Chrome-plating area, Former Naphtha Tank Area, and the Former Surface Impoundment Area. ANC is continuing to pump and treat groundwater from two recovery sumps and four wells. Approximately 62.6 pounds of chromium were removed from the groundwater during in 2009. The pumping of groundwater maintains a hydraulic barrier to prevent contaminated groundwater from entering the Lehigh River. Quarterly groundwater monitoring continues at the site.
As part of its quarterly monitoring requirements per the Administrative Order, ANC is required to determine if Walnutport Municipal Well #5 is running, and if so, American Nickeloid is required to collect a sample for total chromium analysis. Municipal Well #5 was not running on November 11, 2009, the most recent time the municipality was contacted.
The American Nickeloid facility in September 2002. demonstrated that the conversion of monitoring well B-2 to a recovery well adequately prevents contaminated groundwater from escaping the Former Surface Impoundment Area toward the Lehigh Canal. Also the EPA determined in September 2022, there was no unacceptable risk to human health and/or the environment ongoing at the facility.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table, 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 |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
American Nickeloid Company is a specialty metal plating facility in operation since 1923 in Walnutport, Pennsylvania. The facility is located on 40 acres and is bordered on the west by the Lehigh Canal which is adjacent to the Lehigh River. Residential properties are situated to the south and southeast. American Nickeloid started its chromium electroplating operations in the 1930s. Over the years, the tanks, pipes and pumps associated with the chromium electroplating processes are known to have leaked.
The main contaminant in the groundwater is chromium from wastes at the Former Surface Impoundment Area and releases of chromic acid from the Chrome-plating area. Naphtha has also been found in the groundwater near the Former Naphtha Tank Area. Naphtha and chrome have also been found in the soil.
American Nickeloid has closed the Former Surface Impoundment Area under the supervision of PADEP. Soil samples were collected from various depths within the impoundments and berms in the summer of 2003 and 2004. None of the samples collected contained chromium at concentrations above Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) medium specific concentrations (MSCs). Only one sample collected (sample no. C-13) contained nickel (673 mg/kg) at a slightly higher concentration than PADEP’s soil-to-groundwater MSC of 650 mg/kg).
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
The need for Institutional Controls has yet to be determined.
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) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
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 and Publicly Available Electronic Records
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.