EPA RCRA ID: PAD041731670
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Facility Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Status
Note: The EPA is the lead agency for managing cleanups at this facility.
The Corrective Action Final Decision of Complete with Controls became effective on May 26, 2016, after a 30-day public comment period. Controls include a land use restriction prohibiting residential-style use, sampling and disposal requirements for any future intrusive operations on most of the facility, and maintenance requirements for the cover over the former settling ponds. These controls are anticipated to be incorporated into an environmental covenant to be recorded with the county by the end of 2016.
In June 2004, an Environmental Indicator (EI) inspection was performed at the facility, which included a review of documentation on previous site investigations and a site visit. Historically, high levels of metals—particularly lead, cadmium, and chromium—have been the contaminants of concern at the site. Several soil removals due to lead and cadmium exceedances occurred in the 1990s and 2000s as part of building expansion projects. Since 2004, levels of dissolved metal contaminants in groundwater have been below levels of concern at the facility. On November 10, 2009, EPA determined that both environmental indicators were met at the facility.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. It is not intended as an extensive list of milestones/activities. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table and the Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility table that follows, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The Ferro facility is located on a 12-acre triangular piece of land in Canton Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The facility was purchased in 1946 by Drakenfeld and Company, who produced glass enamels, glass oxides, and clayware colors. These products have remained the primary focus of the facility ever since. Powder pigments are currently sold to the plastics and vinyl siding industries, pastes are sold to the automotive and architectural industries for glass decorations, and "Drakotherms" are also produced. These consist of solids at room temperature that are used to decorate bottles and glassware, liquid precious metals that are used to decorate fine china, and organic products (solids, liquids or pastes) that are used in a variety of applications. In 1966, Hercules, Inc. of Wilmington, Delaware, purchased Drakenfeld Company, and all Drakenfeld operations were consolidated at the West Wylie Avenue facility. The company was later bought by Ciba-Geigy Corporation in 1979 and filed the initial Notification of Hazardous Waste Activity to USEPA in August 1980 under this name. In 1993, Drakenfeld and the Ceramic Colors and Special Products Division of Degussa were incorporated as a joint venture firm with Cerdec Corporation Drakenfeld Products as the U.S. subsidiary of Cerdec AG with worldwide headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. The facility submitted another revised Notification of Hazardous Waste Activity to EPA in October 2000 to reflect a change in name and ownership (in 1999) to DMC2 Degussa Metals Catalysts Cerdec Corporation. The facility changed its name to Ferro Glass and Color Corporation when Ferro Corporation (Ferro) purchased DMC2 in September 2001. Currently, the Washington, PA facility is an international manufacturer and distributor of glass coatings, frits, ceramic stains, and pigments for the glass, ceramic, paint, plastic and coating industries. It produces approximately 11,000,000 pounds per year of product.
Contaminants at this Facility
Primary contaminants at the facility include heavy metals, particularly lead, cadmium, and chromium that were used in paint pigments. Soil and groundwater are contaminated with these metals; however, several removals of contaminated soil have reduced the likelihood of exposure to contaminated soil, and dissolved concentrations of heavy metals in groundwater have consistently been below levels of concern.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
The following controls are part of the remedy and are planned to be codified in an environmental covenant:
- Prohibition of residential-style land use
- Requirements for sampling and disposal of any contaminated soil during any future intrusive operations throughout most of the facility
- Annual inspection and maintenance of the cover over the former settling ponds
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
Documents available on-line: |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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Governmental Controls (GC) |
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Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | ||||
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Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.