EPA Continues Cleanup of Scrap Yard

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has removed debris and contaminated materials piled at the site of the former Consolidated Iron & Metal scrap yard in Newburgh, NY, and is ready to investigate options for long-term soil and ground water cleanup. Since June, EPA has removed hundreds of tons of scrap, debris and tires to enable the investigation to proceed.

"Our goal is to turn this property into an asset for the community of Newburgh," said Jane Kenny. EPA Regional administrator Jane M. Kenny. "Now that the mountains of debris are gone, it's easy to see that once the contamination is cleaned up, this will be a beautiful and vital riverfront area again."

The Consolidated Iron and Metal site occupies about seven acres along the Hudson River. When EPA began cleanup work in June, the inactive car and scrap metal junk yard consisted of a tire pile, numerous scrap metal piles and several buildings. For about 40 years, scrap metal was processed and stored at the site. An onsite smelter was used primarily to recycle aluminum transmissions, but other materials were also smelted, resulting in a lead and PCB- contaminated ash/slag byproduct.

EPA has removed about 30,000 tires, which will be used for fuel at a power plant in Connecticut; 58 truckloads of scrap metal, several thousand tons of concrete and almost 8,000 gallons of hydraulic oil were also recycled. The EPA also demolished the buildings on the site and disposed of about 2,000 tons of contaminated soil and debris.

The site was listed on the National Priorities List of the nation's most hazardous waste sites in June 2001. EPA will conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study, to characterize the nature and extent of the contamination, investigate options for cleanup, and evaluate the feasibility of the different cleanup options.