EPA removes New York scrap dealer from Superfund list

After completing cleanup work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has removed Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal, a 24-acre inactive scrap iron and metal facility, from the National Priorities List, which includes the most contaminated hazardous waste sites.

“Cleaning up contaminated lands and returning them to safe and productive use is a top priority for EPA and I am pleased that our work at the Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal site is completed and we are turning the page on its designation as a Superfund site,” EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez says in a news release announcing the completion of the cleanup. “Regular site inspections of the landfill cap at this site and the surrounding areas show that the work we did here is complete and continues to protect people. This a Superfund success story for this community.”

The scrap yard operated from the 1950s through the 1990s. In addition to handling various grades of scrap metal, the facility was used as a landfill and a location for tires and batteries to be disposed.  

The cleanup included the following:

• buildings and facilities associated with previous site operations have been demolished and removed and other debris piles were assessed, sampled and removed
• EPA dug up and consolidated contaminated soil on-site
• landfill was capped to prevent contaminants from leaching out of the landfill into the groundwater
• monitoring wells were installed, the landfill area fenced off and the landfill cap seeded with new vegetation
• placement of institutional controls on the properties associated with the site cleanup
• ongoing operating and maintenance activities, including groundwater sampling 

The EPA adds that further restrictions have been placed on the former scrap metal facility, including restrictive covenants and environmental easements for limiting future use of the site and the use of the groundwater to protect the cleanup. Long-term activities at the site will continue, including operating and maintaining the landfill cap system that vents gas from the inactive landfill and continued monitoring of the groundwater.

EPA will conduct reviews every five years to ensure the effectiveness and the protectiveness of the cleanup. EPA accepted public comments on the proposed deletion for 30 days before deleting the site.