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NPL Site Narrative for Scorpio Recycling, Inc.
SCORPIO RECYCLING, INC.
Candeleria Ward, Puerto Rico
Federal Register Notice: February 4, 2000Conditions at Proposal (October 22, 1999): The Scorpio Recycling, Inc. (SRI) site is located in a commercial/residential area on State Road #2 Km. 19.7, interior (Acuna Street), in Candeleria Ward, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. The 9-acre site is bordered to the north by La Grande Movers, to the west by La Rosa Del Monte Moving Company, to the east by a mogote (limestone hill) and the Pan American Gun Club, and to the south by Mitsubishi Motors and a sinkhole.
SRI is a metal recycling company that buys, accumulates, and processes various types of scrap metal for resale to foundries in the United States and Brazil. SRI initiated operations in Candeleria Ward under the name Astur Metals, Inc. in 1972. The name was changed to SRI in 1988. SRI consists of an administrative office, aluminum processing building, sorting areas, metal accumulation buildings, and a mechanical yard.
On October 8, 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Technical Assistance Team (TAT) conducted a preliminary sampling event as a result of an August 1991 report that SRI was illegally discharging acids into a sinkhole area. Soil, runoff, and waste samples were collected. Analytical results from the two soil samples collected detected arsenic and vanadium at concentrations in excess of EPA's Soil Screening Levels for ingestion. Additional on-site sampling and nearby ground water sampling was recommended. On December 18, 1991, the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board (PREQB) conducted an on-site reconnaissance at SRI. The reconnaissance identified poor housekeeping practices at the site, including stained and corroded floors, spills, batteries on the ground and on pallets, lead battery cells open to the atmosphere, acidic runoff flowing into the sinkhole area, and stressed vegetation.
On July 14, 1994, EPA's TAT conducted a subsequent sampling event west of the SRI facility. Soil, runoff, and drum waste samples were collected. Metal contamination was detected in the soil at elevated concentrations at selected locations. Runoff samples identified selected metals at elevated concentrations. Concentrations of lead in drum waste samples exceeded lead concentrations recommended under EPA's Toxic Compound Leaching Procedure.
In March 1994, PREQB collected soil and ground water samples as part of a Site Inspection. Metal contamination was detected in the soil at elevated concentrations. Ground water analyses identified lead in downgradient samples at elevated concentrations.
An Expanded Site Inspection (ESI) conducted by EPA in April 1999 involved the collection of surface and subsurface soil samples, as well as a ground water sample from a nearby production well. The result of the ESI documented surface and subsurface soil metals, and selected areas of volatile and semi-volatile chemical contamination at elevated concentrations.
There are 21 active Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority and production wells within the target distance limit, the closest of which lies 0.30 mile north of the site. These wells provide drinking water to approximately 76,500 people, and may potentially be affected by the migration of contaminants from the site through the highly permeable karst aquifers.
Status (February 2000): EPA is considering various alternatives for this site.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.