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Schuylkill Metals Corporation
National Information
Photos/Multimedia
Entrance to the Schuylkill Metals Corporation 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: FLD062794003Location: Plant City, Hillsborough County, FL
Lat/Long: 28.010830, -082.143060
Congressional District: 12
NPL Status: Proposed: 12/30/82; Final: 09/08/83; Deleted: 08/22/01
Affected Media: Ground water, Sediment, Soil, Surface Water
Cleanup Status: Deleted from the NPL - Physical cleanup activities have been completed.
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: Industrial/Ecological - three acres of the site are used for construction equipment storage and 10 acres are a restored wetland habitat.
Site Manager: Galo Jackson (jackson.galo@epa.gov)
Site Background
From 1972 through 1986, the Schuylkill Metals Corporation recovered lead from batteries on their 17.5-acre property in Plant City, Hillsborough County, Florida. Spent automobile, golf cart, and other batteries were transported to the site where the tops of the battery cases were sawed off and the lead plates were removed and loaded on a railroad car bound for a smelter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Spent battery electrolyte solution containing sulfuric acid was initially dumped on the ground, and in later years of operation was collected in tanks to be marketed for resale. Saw cooling water and battery wash water was collected in sumps and treated for pH adjustment prior to discharge into the unlined holding pond. In 1981, the facility received a permit to discharge these wastewaters to the City's Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW). The emptied battery cases were landfilled on site.
Threats and Contaminants
Highly elevated levels of lead were found in the soil and surface water on the site, as well as in the sediments of the neighboring wetlands. Ground water sampling revealed contaminant concentrations which exceeded Florida's primary drinking water standards for lead and chromium, and secondary standards for sulfate.
Approximately 20,000 residents live within three miles of the site. A junior high school, elementary school and hospital are located within one mile of the site.
Site Cleanup Plan
The Record of Decision (ROD) for the site was issued in 1990. Major cleanup elements for the site included:
- Excavation of contaminated soil and debris.
- Separation of soils from debris by screening.
- Excavation of contaminated ditch sediment.
- Chemical fixation of soil and sediment.
- Grinding, washing and recycling of debris.
- Pond-pumping ground water collection and construction of ground water collection trenches.
- Ground water chemical treatment and filtration.
- Discharge of treated water to the POTW or site waters.
- East marsh flood control mechanisms.
- Fencing of the east and west marshes.
- Physical, chemical, and biological monitoring of the east and west marshes.
- Operation and maintenance.
Cleanup Progress
Over 266,000 tons of contaminated soil and sediment from the former process area and wastewater pond were treated on site by solidification and have been covered.
All contaminated sediments have been removed from the neighboring wetlands. Mitigation work has concluded and the wetlands have been replanted to create new habitat for wildlife.
Site cleanup activities have been addressed through responsible party actions with oversight by EPA. The Schuylkill Metals Corporation site was deleted from the National Priorities List in August 2001.
Enforcement Activities
Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission issued a Cease and Desist Order to Schuylkill Metals Corporation in August 1978 due to overflow of a wastewater holding pond. Corrective actions were immediately addressed and the facility was released from the order eight days later.
In July 1986, Schuylkill Metals Corporation entered into a Consent Decree with the Florida Department of Environmental Resources to conduct a Remedial Investigation (RI) for the site. The RI and a subsequent Feasibility Study were completed in 1990.
Schuylkill Metals Corporation entered into Consent Decree with EPA in March 1991 to conduct the Remedial Design, which was completed in 1993. Pursuant to Section VII.E.1 of the Consent Decree, the United States will transfer conservation easements for protection of the wetlands to the State of Florida.
Community Involvement
EPA has conducted a range of community involvement activities at the Schuylkill Metals Corporation 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 and interviews.
Fact Sheets
- Reuse Fact Sheet (PDF) (1 pg, 637K, About PDF)
Future Work
Ground water monitoring in the vicinity of the solidified soil is ongoing.
The Schuylkill Metals Corporation site requires a statutory-type review every five years, until the property has unlimited use/unrestricted exposure. The third Five-Year Review Report is due to be approved in 2011.
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.
Bruton Memorial Library
302 West McLendon Street
Plant City, FL 33566
Administrative Record Index
- OU-1 (PDF) (20 pp, 641K, About PDF)
- ESD (PDF) (1 pg, 36K, About PDF)
- Deletion (PDF) (2 pp, 73K, About PDF)
For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.