STATE ROUTE 54 AND I-80
The 15-acre MW Manufacturing site in Valley Township, Pennsylvania, was a recovery operation for scrap wire. The main building was being used as a storage facility, and a smaller building was occupied by a metal fabrication operation by a caretaker resident who was evicted by the land owner in 1993. Since 1993, no commercial activities have occurred at the site. The recovery process, which changed the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) insulation around the wire into granular black carbon sludge, also helped dissolve heavy metals such as lead, zinc, and copper into the waste materials. Workers then treated the copper wire with chlorinated solvents. The spent solvent apparently was dumped on the site. Metal Wire (MW) Manufacturing, the first owner, used both mechanical and chemical processes and went bankrupt in the early 1970s. The current owner, Warehouse 81, Inc., used a mechanical process. Waste accumulation on the site consists of an 86,000-gallon surface impoundment, 32,000 cubic yards of finely divided scrap wire called "fluff," a buried underground tank, and 13,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil. While the mechanical process generated the most fluff, the chemical processes were responsible for the biggest environmental impact. The area is agricultural and residential. Within one mile of the site are homes, motels, gas stations, restaurants, and a school. About 5,200 people live within a three-mile radius; 1,500 live within one mile. Area residents used groundwater wells for drinking; about 320 wells lay within 3 miles of the site. Mauses Creek, a trout stream, flows to the south of the site. Site Responsibility Cleanup of this site is the responsibility of Federal and State governments, and parties responsible for site contamination.
477 |
People living within a 1 mile radius |
$69,733 |
Average Income |
176 |
Occupied homes |
No stories have been submitted for this site.
