Metro Container Corporation

EPA ID: PAD044545895

Location:

2nd & Price Streets
Trainer, PA 19013
Delaware County

Congressional District: 7th

Other Names: None

Last Updated: January 2013

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Contacts

Site Assessment Manager
Charlene Creamer
215-814-2145
creamer.charlene@epa.gov

Remedial Project Manager
Christopher Sklaney
215-814-3198
sklaney.christopher@epa.gov

Community Involvement Coordinator
Alexander Mandell
215-814-5517
mandell.alexander@epa.gov

Governmental Liaison
Laura Mohollen
215-814-3295
Mohollen.laura@Epa.gov

Region 3 NPL Coordinator
Lorie Baker
215-814-3355
baker.lorie@epa.gov

Region 3 NPL Public Docket Coordinator
Dawn Shellenberger
215-814-5364
shellenberger.dawn@epa.gov

Bulletin Board

Questions

The EPA is dedicated to providing you with timely and accurate information about our work at this site. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact: Alexander Mandell
215-814-5517

Site Status

The Metro Container site was added to the National Priorities List of most hazardous waste sites in the country in March 2012. It is now eligible to receive federal funding for cleanup.

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Background

The Metro Container Corporation site is located about 20 miles southwest of Philadelphia near the Delaware River.
The site is comprised of a 10.4-acre parcel located at the southwest corner of 2nd and Price Streets.
Surrounding the site are an oil refinery, auto salvage operation, metal scrap operation, and railroad tracks.
Residential properties are located north of the site.
Various companies have occupied the site since the late 19th century, including the Delaware Oil Works, Manufacturers Paraffin Company, Stauffer Chemical Company, Joseph A. Reis Company, Universal Container Corporation, Metro Container Corporation, and Trainer Industries, LLC.
Industrial activities such as oil refining and storage, wax manufacturing, carbon disulfide production, and steel drum reconditioning occurred on site.
No industrial activities are currently conducted at the site.
Trainer Industries, LLC, which is a party indemnified for past contamination under an agreement with EPA, uses the property for storage of painting supplies and equipment.
The main source of contamination on the property is a lagoon that was used for disposal of drum contents and waste water.
The unlined lagoon was eventually filled in with soil and artificial fill materials.
Surface and subsurface soils near the lagoon are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), inorganic elements, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

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Cleanup History

NPL Listing History

Status: Listed	Proposed: 9/16/2011
Listed:3/15/2012

In the late 1980s, EPA conducted a removal action at the site due to the lack of responsiveness from responsible parties (RPs).
In addition to establishing a presence to control waste handling activities by the RPs, EPA installed a fence to restrict site access, constructed a temporary retaining wall to limit off-site migration, conducted sampling and analysis of waste materials, and removed over 130,000 gallons of oil-contaminated rain water from the lagoon and secondary containment structures.
The RPs assumed control of the removal action on June 2, 1989 through the issuance of an Administrative Order on Consent (Consent Order).
Over 6,000 tons of sludge, drums, and contaminated soils were removed by the RPs under the Consent Order.

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Contaminants and Risks

Assessments and removal actions conducted at the site indicate that concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), inorganic elements, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present in soil and ground water above various risk-based screening levels.
Sediments in Stoney Creek and in the Delaware River near the mouth of Stoney Creek appear to have been contaminated with PCBs, and may contain other contaminants associated with the site.
A fish consumption advisory due to the presence of PCBs is in place along the Delaware River from Trenton south to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal that is due in part to releases from the site.
Contaminant descriptions and associated risk factors are available at: (ATSDR web site).

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Documents and Reports

To search an on-line database of all documents and reports on the Metro Container Corporation site, go to EPA’s Administrative Record Database.

All documents and reports can also be reviewed in person at these locations:

U.S. EPA Region 3 NPL Public Docket
c/o U.S. EPA Region 3 Library
1650 Arch Street, 2nd floor (3PM52)
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029
215-814-5364 or 215-814-5254
http://www.epa.gov/libraries/ region3.html

Some of the site’s key documents of interest are accessible below.

Hazard Ranking System (HRS) Documentation Record (PDF) (66 pp, 5.19MB)*
* The documentation record provided is available at the time of proposal for informational purposes. An official copy of the documentation record and the documents referenced in it are available in the EPA Region 3 NPL Public Docket at the EPA Region 3 Library. Copies of materials in EPA's electronic docket for the site's proposal to the NPL are also accessible online through Regulations. gov under Docket ID: EPA-HQ-SFUND-2011-0651.

Metro Container Corporation NPL Public Docket (EPA-HQ-SFUND-2011-0651)

NPL Site Listing Narrative

Proposed Purchaser Agreement - February, 2000 (PDF ) (18 pp, 45.9K)

Site Progress Profile
Submit a FOIA Request
Get instructions on how to submit a FOIA request. $Fee$ for requests over 100 pages.

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Photos, Maps and Diagrams

Aerial Shot of Metro Container Site

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Community Information

This is Superfund: A Community Guide to EPA's Superfund Program (PDF) (12 pp, 1.1MB)

Fact Sheet
September 2011 (PDF) (2 pp, 816k)
March 2007 (PDF) (2 pp, 191k)
Federal Registers
3/15/2012: National Priorities List, Final Rule No. 53

3/15/2012: Nine Other Sites Added Nationally

9/16/2011: National Priorities List, Proposed Rule No. 55 (76 FR 57702-57709

04/25/2002: Metro Container Corporation Site; CERCLA 122(h) Administrative Settlement; Notice of Proposed Administrative Cost Recovery Settlement Pursuant to Section 122(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as Amended.

02/15/2000: Notice of Proposed Purchaser Agreement Pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as Amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Press Releases
03/13/2012 - Metro Container Corp. added to National Priorites List
9/15/2011 - EPA Advancing Clean Up at 15 Hazardous Waste Sites, Proposing Another 11 Sites for Action
9/15/2011 - Metro Container Corp. Site Proposed for Superfund List