PA Agencies Work Together on Closed Scrap Yard Cleanup

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David E. Hess today praised the cooperation among Pennsylvania state agencies and local government during a tour of the cleanup of the Marino Brothers’ Scrap Yard site in Rochester, Beaver County.

“This site is a perfect example of how cooperation among agencies can accomplish a project that is difficult for just one governmental agency to complete,” Secretary Hess said. “The eventual cleanup of this site will be a boost to the local economy, and we are proud to be a part of the project.”

Secretary Hess said the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Rochester Borough and the Rochester Municipal Authority contributed to the success of the project.

The team effort saved Rochester Borough $240,000 in construction costs on a new storm-water line and helped with completing the first phase of the final cleanup at the site.

The Marino Scrap Yard was active from 1920 to 1998. It was used for the disposal of mill slag and scrap metals. The company ceased operations in 1998, and the property was donated to the Borough of Rochester the following year.

The Beaver County YMCA planned to use the site to construct a new facility, but plans were changed when a DEP environmental site assessment revealed heavy metals and PCB contamination in the soils and groundwater.

In January 2002, PENNDOT planned to reconstruct Railroad Street adjacent to the Marino property. PENNDOT’s work was dependent on the construction of a new storm-water outfall that was to be placed through the Marino property for discharge into the Ohio River.

“By timing our road construction schedule with DEP’s site cleanup schedule, it was possible to avoid additional costs due to contaminated soil handling,” PENNDOT’s District 10 Assistant Environmental Manager Mark Young said. “This effort ensured that the roadway did not have to be re-excavated for the borough’s sewer-renovation work.”

By including the excavation of the storm-water discharge pipe as a part of the cleanup, DEP saved the Rochester $240,000 and gave it a head start on elimination of its Combined Sewer Overflow problem. DEP has mandated that Rochester Borough begin reducing the amount of water that enters its sewage-treatment system.

It is estimated that more than 570 cubic yards of contaminated soil will need to be removed from the site because of the outfall work. The soil will go to a disposal site in Ohio.

Additional work will be done to remove the contaminated soils and to cap the site so it will be available for future development.

This sit is being cleaned up under authority of the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, a 1988 state law that authorizes DEP cleanups of hazardous-waste sites and the recovery of costs from the responsible parties.