Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Edgewater Steel Company in Oakmont, Pennsylvania
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
Cleanup Status
This facility is one of EPA Region III's high priority Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action sites. The Pennsylvania Department Environmental Protection (PADEP) has worked with prior and current owners of the property to investigate and remediate the facility. The remediation, approved under the PA Act 2 program, included the removal of tanks, waste material, and some contaminated soil. The residential redevelopment plans, also approved under the PA Act 2 program, require engineering controls (soil capping) and institution controls (deed notifications and environmental covenants) to restrict certain uses of the land and groundwater to prevent exposure the contaminants that remain at the facility.
EPA sets national goals to measure progress toward meeting the nation’s major environmental goals. For Corrective Action, EPA evaluates two key environmental indicators for each facility: (1) current human exposures under control and (2) migration of contaminated groundwater under control. In September 2003 , EPA determined, with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) input, that the facility met both the Human Exposures and Groundwater Environmental Indicators.
The facility has completed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action requirements. The Facility is now divided into two properties. EPA issued two Statements of Basis for the Former Edgewater Steel Property, now known as River’s Edge and Edgewater at Oakmont. On September 26, 2017, EPA’s issued Final Corrective Action Determinations that Corrective Action (remediation/cleanup) was complete and that the engineering and institutional control required under the Act 2 program should continue to be implemented. The Final Decision requires the maintenance of land use restrictions to prevent exposure to contaminated soil and groundwater. The land use restrictions include:
- Construction/maintenance of the protective soil caps, pavement caps, and/or structures overlying the contaminated soils
- Restrictions on excavations into the protective caps
- Groundwater use restrictions to prevent exposure to contaminated groundwater
Site Description
The 57-acre former steelmaking facility shut down operations in 2001. The site was divided into two parcels for remediation and redevelopment as residential, commercial and light industrial properties:
- River’s Edge : 23-acre area (Parcel A and Parcel C) comprising the southern half of the property, and
- Edgewater at Oakmont : 34-acre area (Parcel B) comprising the northern half of the property.
River’s Edge, was sold to the Joseph B. Fay Company (Fay) in 1994. Brooks and Blair Waterfront Properties, Ltd. purchased the property for development in 2005. The property was then divided into Parcel A and Parcel C. Parcel C includes a completed apartment building. The Parcel A redevelopment is planned to include apartments, condominiums, and single family residences. These housing units will be constructed in multiple phases.
Edgewater at Oakmont (Parcel B), was developed by Edgewater Properties, L.P. Development is nearly complete; ultimately comprising 242 residential units, including townhomes, multi-family and single family homes. A small area in the northwest corner of Parcel B includes an electrical substation owned by Duquesne Power and Light (referred to in several drawings and reports as Parcel B-1).
Contaminants at this Facility
Soils beneath the protective caps are contaminated with arsenic, lead, manganese and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Groundwater below the property is contaminated with manganese, antimony, cadmium, poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and trichloroethylene.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Controls are in place to restrict land and groundwater use to prevent exposure to contaminated soil and groundwater. The controls in place are:
- Rivers Edge – Environmental Covenants placed on Parcel A and Parcel C properties; and
- Edgewater at Oakmont – Buyer/Seller Agreement (Edgewater Properties LP), Declaration of Covenant (Edgewater Homeowners Association), and Special Warranty Deeds (Homeowners).
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
The site is being reused.
Site Responsibility at this Facility
RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility have been conducted under the direction of PADEP with assistance from EPA Region 3.