Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Kennametal Incorporated in Bedford, Pennsylvania

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Cleanup Status
Site Description
Contaminants at this Facility
Institutional/Engineer Controls
Land Reuse
Site Responsibility

Cleanup Status

During preparation for a December 10, 2015 Long Term Stewardship (LTS) Inspection, EPA realized that no Statement of Basis (SOB)/Final Decision has been issued by the Agency for the Kennametal Bedford, Pennsylvania facility. A copy of the LTS Inspection Report was not available at the time of this update, but a link to the report will be available on this website shortly. The facility has been operating since the mid-1990s as if it had achieved a status of Construction Complete with controls. EPA plans to issue a Statement of Basis/Final Decision for the facility this fiscal year, in which the groundwater treatment system that has been in place since the mid-1980s will be reevaluated, and a small area containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)-contaminated soils will be further addressed. Kennametal, under a December 20, 1996 letter agreement with EPA, had agreed to continue groundwater treatment until all maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) have been achieved for a period of three consecutive years.

Kennametal has placed a notice with the Bedford County Court House that describes the environmental conditions at the property. This was done to serve as notice to potential future owners of the property, even though Kennametal has no plans of selling the facility.

The Kennametal Manufacturing facility achieved a “Yes” determination for the Current Human Exposures Under Control Environmental Indicator (EI) and a “Yes” determination for the Migration of Contaminated Groundwater Under Control EI in April 1997. Both of these evaluations remain valid as determined during the LTS inspection.

Kennametal Manufacturing is currently implementing remediation of contaminated groundwater at one location east of Manufacturing Area 2. The cleanup consists of groundwater pump and treat, and long term groundwater monitoring. Groundwater monitoring results are submitted to EPA for evaluation. Kennametal Manufacturing will continue to perform groundwater remediation and monitoring until the Maximum Containment Levels (MCL) for 1,1,1-Trichloroethane (200 ppb) and 1,1-Dichloroethylene (7 ppb) are achieved for three consecutive years. On June 14, 2002, EPA agreed to allow Kennametal to monitor groundwater on a less frequent basis, once every 15 months for certain wells and once every 30 months for wells that have been yielding consistent results over the past several years. The 18^th round of groundwater monitoring was completed in June 2015 and included a sub-set of the wells in the monitoring network. MCL exceedences continue to be observed in monitoring wells MW-7 and SP-4. The next round of sampling is scheduled for September 2016, pending any adjustments to the monitoring schedule contained in EPA’s upcoming Statement of Basis/Final Decision.

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Site Description

Interactive map of Kennametal Incorporated, Bedford, PA

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The Kennametal Manufacturing facility is located in Bedford, Pennsylvania in a valley about one mile upstream from the confluence of Dunning Creek and Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. The Facility is situated in a rural area characterized by low density residential uses, with some non-residential land uses (e.g., commercial and institutional).

The Facility consists of two manufacturing areas, each with its own distinct functions. In Manufacturing Area 1, the tungsten carbide powders undergo pelletizing, fitzmilling, and pressing of mechanical pill presses into tool tips of various shapes. In Manufacturing Area 2, the steel bodies that hold the tungsten carbide tips are manufactured and undergo brazing to the tungsten carbide tool tips. The steel parts are processed by honing, turning, milling, and drilling, along with some straightening and cutting.

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