EPA RCRA ID: PAD044540136
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.
On September 7, 2007 EPA prepared a proposed decision that Corrective Action is complete with the institutional controls that required for groundwater monitoring and control.
NGK is currently optimizing the groundwater pump and treat system installed pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Section 3008 (h), Administrative Consent Order of June, 1994 (Order). NGK entered into the Order as a result of documented releases of hazardous wastes and constituents into the air, soil, and groundwater at the facility. Impermeable asphalt geotechnical caps installed for source control continue to function as designed.
As part of the Order, facility use was restricted to continue to protect human health and the environment into the future. Use restrictions enforced under the order are:
- Limit land use to industrial.
- Prevent the installation of on-site drinking water wells.
- Require future land owners to maintain the asphalt caps and interceptor swales.
- Prevent construction or other activities that could damage the ability of the caps or swales to prevent precipitation infiltration.
- Require that all designs or changes to the facility involving soil disturbances be submitted to EPA for approval.
Cleanup Background
In March through August of 1991, an off-site investigation in the vicinity of NGK took place. The groundwater on- and off-site was sampled, off-site water quality was tested, an inventory of residential and commercial water wells was performed, soil on- and off-site was sampled. Levels of beryllium in residential soils at that time was found to range from 0.5 ppm to 6.9 ppm.
Between 1991 and 1993, the first “Petitioned Public Health Assessment Initial Release” was performed on the NGK Metals site by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The ATSDR determined that the NGK site did not present a public health threat.
In June 23, 1998, a second “Petitioned Health Consultation study” on the NGK Metals site was completed by ATSDR. It concluded that “the off-site ambient air beryllium concentrations indicated that the facility presents no public health hazard to non-hypersensitive population.”
An EPA RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) and RCRA Corrective Measures Study were performed on the site in accordance with the 1994 RCRA Administrative Consent Order. The Order required NGK, among other minor things, to relocate and cap hazardous waste piles, build interceptor swales to control stormwater over the caps, pump and treat contaminated groundwater, conduct periodic sampling, and maintain security of the site.
Construction of an impermeable cap over the source areas at the Facility, installation of a groundwater collection-extraction system, and groundwater treatment plant are completed.
The “Engineer’s Certification of Cap Installation Report” was finalized on June 12, 2006. It covers the Eastern and Western Red Mud Areas on the facility.
An Ecological Evaluation was performed in September 2009 pursuant to the existing Consent Order. The evaluation included surface water quality, sediment quality, and biota sampling to determine if historical operations impacted the biological communities in Laurel Run. The conclusions were that there are no apparent direct impacts, the conditions are typical of an urban stream, and that no further ecological evaluation is necessary. EPA approved the findings on January 22, 2010.
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 NGK Metals site is located on 65 acres in Muhlenberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, within a few miles of the City of Reading. Since 1935, various companies have operated as a beryllium processing facility. The facility became NGK in 1986.
Contaminants at this Facility
Beryllium, chromium, and fluoride are the contaminants of concern at the NGK facility.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls include:
- Limit land use to industrial.
- Prevent the installation of on-site drinking water wells.
- Require future land owners to maintain the asphalt caps and interceptor swales.
- Prevent construction or other activities that could damage the ability of the caps or swales to prevent precipitation infiltration.
- Require that all designs or changes to the facility involving soil disturbances be submitted to EPA for approval.
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.