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Pepper Steel and Alloys, Inc.
National Information
Photos/Multimedia
Cargo awaiting shipment at the Pepper Steel site.
- Additional Site Photos
- Site Video
Additional Resources
- Site Cleanup Terms - can be found in EPA's glossary
- EPA Guides to Cleanup Technologies
- Superfund Community Involvement (PDF) (17 pp, 130K, About PDF)
Site Summary Profile
EPA ID: FLD032544587Location: Medley, Dade County, FL
Lat/Long: 25.873610, -080.353330
Congressional District: 21
NPL Status: Proposed: 09/08/83; Final: 09/21/84
Affected Media: Soil
Cleanup Status: Construction complete - physical cleanup activities have been completed
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: In commercial reuse. Potential for commercial / light industrial
Site Manager: Jan Rogers (rogers.jan@epa.gov)
Site Background
The Pepper Steel and Alloys (PSA) site is located in Medley, Florida. The site consists of a 25-acre area located near the eastern border of Medley and southwest of the Miami Canal which runs parallel to Okeechobee Road.
The PSA site was used by several businesses beginning in the mid-1960s. These businesses include manufacturers of batteries, precast concrete products, and fiberglass boats, a truck and heavy equipment repair business, a sandblasting and painting service, a concrete batching plant, and an automobile scrap operation. Various trash and waste products from these activities, including parts of rusted machinery, vehicles, aircraft, oil tanks, transformers, underground storage tanks, and batteries were deposited at the site. Activities at PSA included recycling of electrical transformers, where waste oil containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was dumped on the ground.
The PSA Site includes an 11-acre cement/flyash monolith that has an elevation of approximately 13 feet above mean sea level at its highest point. The monolith is composed of contaminated soils with concentrations greater than or equal to one part per million (ppm) PCB, 1,000 ppm lead, and 5 ppm arsenic that were excavated from the site.
The PSA site hosts a variety of reuse activities including trucking/transportation, storage of land-sea containers, and the manufacture of pre-cast cement products. Currently, land use in the neighborhood surrounding the PSA site consists primarily of industrial and commercial business properties. Businesses near the site include dock-level warehouses and a storage facility for stackable containers used in the overseas shipping industry. Projected land use for the surrounding area most likely will include businesses similar to those currently found in the area.
Threats and Contaminants
Site soil was contaminated with PCBs, lead, and arsenic in concentrations posing a significant threat to public health and the environment.
Site Cleanup Plan
The Record of Decision (ROD) for the site was issued in 1986. Major cleanup elements for the site included:
- Collection of all free oil and disposal off site according to the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) regulations.
- Excavation of soils exceeding one ppm PCBs, 1,000 ppm lead, and five ppm arsenic.
- Solidification/stabilization of these soils with a cement-type mixture and placement on site.
- Establishment of institutional controls to ensure that future land use is compatible with the remedy.
Cleanup Progress
In March 1987, site-cleaning activities began to remove all surface debris prior to remedy construction.
Construction activities began at the site after the completion of site cleaning in May 1987. Site cleanup activities were completed in 1989. During site cleanup activities, approximately 48,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated with PCBs, approximately 21,500 cubic yards of soil contaminated with lead, and approximately 9,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated with arsenic were excavated and solidified on site.
Operation and maintenance (O&M) activities at the site have included clearing the crushed limestone cover of vegetation and tree growth, which occurred in late 2002, and surveying to identify the location of the drainage collar which had been disturbed by the tree clearing effort in some locations.
Three Five-Year Reviews (FYRs) have been completed for the PSA site. The first FYR was completed in 1994. The second FYR for the site was finalized in 2002. The third FYR was finalized in 2007. The third FYR found that the remedy continues to be protective of human health and the environment based on monolith sampling and ground water sampling results over the preceding 5-year time period.
Two ground water monitoring wells, sampled in 2007, were found to be exceeding the ground water protection goals (for arsenic and lead) established for the remedy. Re-sampling of these wells in November 2007, continued to show ground water contaminant levels above standards for arsenic and lead in one monolith monitoring well.
Site cleanup activities are being led primarily by potentially responsible parties (PRPs) with oversight by EPA.Enforcement Activities
In 1987, the U.S. District Court for the SE District of Florida recorded a Consent Decree (CD) between EPA and the PRPs for remedy implementation at the PSA site.
A 1997 CD agreement between EPA and the PRPs provided limited funds for O&M activities at the PSA site.Community Involvement
EPA has conducted a range of community involvement activities at the PSA site to solicit community input and to ensure that the public remains informed about site activities throughout the site cleanup process. Outreach activities have included public notices, interviews, and public meetings on cleanup activities and updates.
Fact Sheets
- Reuse Fact Sheet (PDF) (1 pg, 247K, About PDF)
Future Work
EPA, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and Dade County continue to work together to implement the O&M requirements for the site.
Revised Ground Water Monitoring and O&M Plans are to be developed to ensure continued long-term protectiveness of the site. The revised Ground-water Monitoring Plan will address the high ground water contaminant readings in the monolith monitoring well.
Institutional controls are being developed for all three parcels to ensure future use does not adversely affect the remedy.Site Administrative Documents
Site Repository
For more information or to view any site-related documents, please visit the site information repository at the following location. As new documents are generated, they will be placed in the information repository for public information.
Miami Dade County Public Library
101 W. Flagler
Miami, FL 33128
Administrative Record Index
- OU-1 (PDF) (21 pp, 320K, About PDF)
For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.