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Metro Container Corp. site added to Superfund list

Release Date: 03/13/2012
Contact Information: Roy Seneca seneca.roy@epa.gov (215) 814-5567

PHILADELPHIA (March 13, 2012) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the addition of the Metro Container Corporation site in Trainer, Delaware County, Pa. to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).

The NPL is a national list of sites where hazardous substances could impact human health and/or the environment. These sites first undergo a thorough investigation to determine the full nature and extent of contamination. EPA or the parties responsible for the contamination then address whatever risks the sites pose to human health and the environment.

Located about 20 miles south of Philadelphia near the Delaware River, the site has a long industrial history, which includes its use as a chemical manufacturing plant by the Stauffer Chemical Company from 1920 to 1959. The property was also used as a steel drum reconditioning facility by several companies including the Metro Container Corporation, which filed for bankruptcy in 1987. The site is currently owned by Trainer Industries, an industrial painting company that uses the property mainly for storage.

The main source of contamination on the property is a half-acre backfilled industrial waste lagoon that was used for disposal of drum contents and wastewater. The unlined lagoon was eventually filled in with soil and artificial fill materials and is no longer accessible. Additionally, site soils are contaminated. The contaminants of concern at the site are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), inorganics, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Potential impacts to the surrounding community and environment include contamination to the Delaware River and along the tidal flats of the Delaware River.

The Metro Container site is one of nine sites nationwide that EPA is adding to the NPL today. EPA is also proposing 10 other sites to the list today.

For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for this and other sites, please visit https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm .

For information about how a site is listed on the NPL, visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl_hrs.htm .