EPA RCRA ID: PAD004321527
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.
EPA issued its public notice for the Fisher Scientific Company (Fisher or the Facility) Statement of Basis in the July 31, 2018 Indiana Gazette newspaper. The Statement of Basis described EPA’s proposed remedy for the Facility. The proposed remedy included the use of institutional controls to ensure that the Facility property continues to be used for non-residential purposes and prohibits groundwater usage for potable, agricultural or commercial purposes. No comments were received during the 30-day public comment period, which ended on August 30, 2018. Therefore, the Agency’s Final Decision is unchanged from the remedy proposed in the Statement of Basis.
On September 29, 2016 ,EPA determined that contamination in groundwater and human exposures risk from contaminants were under control.
Cleanup History
From 1965 through approximately 1980, a drain in the paint storage room at the southern end of the Building is believed to have been used to collect spills of paint waste and solvents and discharged into a dry well of unknown dimensions just outside the Building. In the summer of 1984, during the installation of a containment tank to replace the dry well, subsurface excavation revealed paint resin and solvent odors emanating from the soils. Initial analyses of soil samples from the excavated area indicated the presence of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and xylenes. The dry well was excavated, sampled and backfilled with clean fill in December 1985. Groundwater in the vicinity of the dry well was monitored in a network of four wells south of the Building for more than 10 years. No contaminants of concern were ever detected in any of the four monitoring wells.
In 1994, during the installation of a new sewer line through the parking lot area, steel shelving, pieces of table tops, transite, empty bottles and cans, pieces of plate glass, construction materials, concrete wire, and an unknown fine gray material were unearthed. The gray material was found to contain lead concentrations in excess of PADEP’s Cleanup Standards for Contaminated Soils (CSCSs). Lower concentrations of barium and tetrachloroethene (PCE) below PADEP’s CSCSs were also detected in the gray material. The gray material was excavated and disposed of off-site in December 1995 and the area was backfilled with clean fill in January 1996. PADEP stated in a letter to Fisher dated March 11, 1996 that the site was approved in accordance with the provisions of the Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act (Act 2) and no further action was required.
In the early to mid-1990s, volatile organic compound (VOC) groundwater contamination was discovered beneath the Gorell facility (a.k.a. Season All Industries), another RCRA Corrective Action Facility, located directly north of the Fisher Facility across Indian Springs Road. EPA has determined that groundwater contamination had migrated south of the Gorell facility onto the northern portion of the Fisher Facility. The Gorell facility operated a ground water recovery and treatment system from March 1996 until it went bankrupt in 2012. Trichloroethylene (TCE) concentrations had decreased beneath the Fisher Facility from greater than 400 µg/L prior to the groundwater treatment system to less than 50 µg/L in monitoring well MW-32D at the time of the bankruptcy. Groundwater beneath the Fisher property has not been tested since the treatment system was shut down and VOC concentrations have likely rebounded in the northern portion of the Facility property. EPA will further assess the groundwater beneath the Fisher Facility as part of the RCRA Corrective Action program’s investigation at the Gorell facility.
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.
Fisher operated its Laboratory Equipment Division on this 14-acre White Township, Indiana County, PA property from 1958 through 2006. The Facility manufactured various laboratory instruments and apparatuses such as clamps, burners, centrifuges, stirrers, ovens, incubators, hot plates and water baths inside a 160,000 square foot building (Building). Fisher left the Facility property in 2006 shortly after it ceased operations. The Facility property is currently owned by 3-Ring Realty, which leases portions of the Building to active tenants.
Because manufacturing took place inside the Building, the concrete slab provided an adequate barrier to prevent releases to the soils or groundwater below. The only RCRA regulated units at the Facility were Hazardous Waste Storage Areas Nos. 1 and 2. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection approved Fisher’s April 1992 closure report for those storage areas in August 1992, finding that they had been properly closed and decontaminated in accordance with Fisher’s earlier submitted closure plan.
Contaminants at this Facility
Contaminants of concern were Trichloroethylene, (TCE), Xylene and Methyl Ethyl Ketone and lead.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
EPA’s Statement of Basis proposed institutional controls that will ensure the Facility property is used for non-residential purposes only and will prohibit the use of groundwater beneath the Facility property for potable, agricultural or commercial purposes.
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: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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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.