Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Electro Platers of York Incorporated in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
Cleanup Status
The former Electro-Platers of York Inc. (EPY) is located at 601 Water Street in Wrightsville, PA (Facility). The Facility is currently owned and occupied by the Wrightsville Water & Sewer Authority (the Authority).
On 3/18/2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a proposed remedy under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended (RCRA), for the former EPY Facility. The proposed remedy for the Facility consists of activity and use limitations with proposed remedial actions that include some flexibility as necessary to accommodate potential future uses. These proposed remedial actions are defined in the Statement of Basis.
To comment on EPA’s proposed decision, submit comments to EPA within the 30-day comment period beginning on 3/18/2020 and ending 4/17/2020. Interested persons may also request a public hearing on this proposed remedy. All comments and/or requests for a hearing must be submitted in writing via mail, fax, or email to the EPA Project Manager, Kevin Bilash as listed below, and must be received prior to 4/17/2020. All comments will be considered in making a final decision.
Cleanup Background
An Environmental Indicator (EI) Inspection Report was completed in September 2010. It was determined that there was insufficient information available to determine if current human exposures and migration of groundwater are under control due to a lack of any environmental investigations or information.
The Authority entered the Facility into the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act through a Notice of Intent to Remediate submitted November 7, 2011. At that time, the Authority also elected to participate in the EPA/PADEP One Cleanup Program Memorandum of Agreement.
The Authority applied for and was selected to receive a Brownfields Grant in 2013. The grant was used to perform an investigation to address the information needed to determine if human health and the environment are protected. Since that time, several iterations of investigations have occurred by the consultant, ARM Group Inc. EPA used quarterly data submitted during these investigations to make determinations that the Migration of Contaminated Groundwater Under Control and Current Human Exposures Under Control EIs were under control in 2017.
A Remedial Investigation Report and Cleanup Plan (Report) submitted in October 2018 and revised in January 2019 summarizing site characterization activities and proposed remedial work. Both EPA and PADEP approved the Report under the One Cleanup Program in 2019.
Site Description
Interactive map of Electro Platers of York Incorporated, Wrightsville, PA
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Electro-Platers of York was an electroplating facility that was contracted by various businesses who supplied EPY with prefinished metal components for custom electroplating. EPY conducted operations at the facility from 1968 until December 21, 2004. The facility experienced an industrial fire which destroyed EPY’s production facility and damaged the finished work warehouse connected to the north end of the production facility building. EPY became a dissolved entity in 2004.
The facility was comprised of 6 acres and 48,000 square feet of facility space during its operation. The original building was expanded in the early 1980s to accommodate increased production capacity. The site is located with the western side on Water Street and the southern side along the former extension of Willow Street at 209 East Willow Street, where the former Wrightsville Hardware Company existed. The site is bordered on the northeast by the Susquehanna River and on the north and west/southwest by residential properties. A baseball field is in the northern vicinity of the property and the Wrightsville sewage treatment plant is to the south.
Contaminants at this Facility
Contaminants identified at the Facility exceeding PADEP Statewide Health Standards include Trichloroethene (TCE), Vinyl Chloride (VC), and Chromium in groundwater as well as Acrolein, Methylene Chloride, TCE, Benzo(a)pyrene, Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, Nickel and Zinc in soils.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
The need for Institutional Controls has been proposed in the Cleanup Plan under Act 2 and by the EPA in the Statement of Basis but have not yet been finalized and include prohibitions on use of potable groundwater, residential construction , other building and excavation restrictions.
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
The Facility is currently owned and occupied by the Wrightsville Water & Sewer Authority and is being reused as an office space.
Site Responsibility at this Facility
Corrective Action activities at this Facility are being conducted under the One Cleanup Program approach with responsibility being coordinated between EPA and PADEP.