Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Standard Steel Specialty Company in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
Cleanup Status
The Corrective Action Final Decision of Complete without Controls became effective October 2, 2012, after a 30-day public comment period. No further action is required to make the Standard Steel Specialty Company property suitable for any type of land use.
An Environmental Indicator (EI) inspection was conducted in July 2003, to determine whether human exposures to contamination and the migration of contaminated groundwater were under control. Although the facility had several releases of oil contamination to Walnut Bottom Run in the past, many of the source areas for this contamination were cleaned and removed from the facility in the 1990s. As a result of this EI inspection and a follow-up visit to the facility in March 2012, EPA determined that both EIs were met at the facility.
Environmental investigations at the facility began in the late 1960s with the discovery of oil contamination in a roadside ditch. An abandoned underground storage tank was identified as the source and supposedly drained of remaining contents and removed. In 1991, a Preliminary Assessment was conducted that identified several solid waste management units (SWMUs) at the facility; however, none of the SWMUs handled hazardous waste. Several of these SWMUs have since been cleaned and removed from the facility.
Site Description
Interactive map of Standard Steel Specialty Company, Beaver Falls, PA
View larger mapSince 1925, Standard Steel Specialty has used the facility to manufacture gear racks, machine keys, woodruff keys, taper pins, elevator guide rails, and other specialty machined steel products. The production of elevator guide rails and the associated painting operations were phased out in the late 1990s.
Contaminants at this Facility
Contaminants at the facility primarily include waste oils from cutting, milling, and de-burring operations. Several waste oil releases from the facility to Walnut Bottom Run have occurred in the past; however, many of the operations from which these releases occurred (sumps, troughs, planers, and an underground storage tank) were cleaned and removed in the 1990s. Therefore, potential risks to ecological receptors in Walnut Bottom Run have been minimized, and risk to potential human receptors is negligible.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls were not required at the facility.
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
SPS continues to use the facility for specialty metals manufacturing.
Site Responsibility at this Facility
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action activities at this facility have been conducted under the direction of EPA Region 3.