EPA RCRA ID: PAD082245754
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 Region3 conducted an Environmental inspection of this facility on June 10, 2002. Based on this inspection, EPA’s preliminary finding is that the environmental indicators are met at this facility. Koppers (Beazer) agreed to take groundwater samples to confirm this finding. In June 2003, EPA determined that contamination in groundwater and human exposures risk from contaminants were under control.
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 |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The original facility was built on approximately 255 acres of undeveloped farm land in 1957 by Koppers Company, Inc., and was used as a research and development laboratory at this location from 1959 until 1988. The research and development work at this time centered around coal and coke, adhesives, protective coatings, pesticides, building materials, plastics, and synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry. Wastes generated from these laboratory testings included: spent solvents, arsenic compounds, acetone, benzene, creosote, methanol, toluene, xylene, carbon disulfide, chlorophenols and cresol. These wastes were transported off-site for disposal on a quarterly basis. Raw materials, intermediate and finished products, equipment and fuels were received and shipped off-site by truck in either bulk form or in drums. In 1988, Koppers Company, Inc. changed their name to Beazer Corporation. In 1989, the facility was bought by Pittsburgh Paint and Glass Company Inc. (PPG).
Up until 1990, wastes generated from the analytical laboratories were carried by hand or by dolly to an onsite Container Storage Facility where they were emptied into drums or other containers before being transported off-site for disposal. Two 240,000 gallon concrete lagoons received washwater from laboratory drains via underground pipelines. Effluent from these lagoons was piped to a limestone contact tank where the water was partially neutralized before discharging directly to the Allegheny County Sanitation Authority (ALCOSAN) Sewage Treatment Plant (a publicly owned public treatment works (POTW). As required by ALCOSAN, this discharge was sampled on a regular bimonthly basis to determine if it met regulatory discharge limits and parameters. Parameters sampled for included heavy metals, oil and grease, cyanide, phenols, organics and pH.
Once PPG bought the Facility in January, 1989, the lagoons and limestone tank were taken out of service by draining these areas, removing all sludge and debris as well as the underlying concrete walls, and backfilling the area with clean soil. The Container Storage Facility was also closed, in accordance with a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) approved workplan in 1990. Another area of interest at the Facility is the former Waste Stabilization Pad, where small quantities of reactive wastes were disposed of onto a concrete pad and allowed to drain to the underlying soils. An investigation of this area was performed in the past, and EPA will review this data to determine if further corrective action is required for this area.
Contaminants at this Facility
Human exposures to contaminants and contaminants in groundwater migration are all under controlled at this site.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
There are no institutional controls at the site yet.
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.