Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Cyclops Corporation (Formerly: Pittsburgh Industrial Plating) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) conducted a Long-term Stewardship assessment of the Former Cyclops Corporation facility to assess the efficacy of the implemented remedy and to update the community on the status of the RCRA Corrective Action at the Cyclops facility. PADEP inspected the Facility on May 22, 2024, and EPA conducted a records review prior to the inspection. EPA and PADEP determined that the Cyclops facility is in compliance with EPA’s Final Decision for the Cyclops facility and the environmental covenant. Human exposure to contaminated groundwater is controlled through pathway elimination.
Cleanup Status
EPA sets national goals to measure progress toward meeting the nation’s major environmental goals. For Corrective Action, EPA evaluates two key environmental indicators for each facility: (1) current human exposures under control and (2) migration of contaminated groundwater under control. In August 2013, EPA determined that both the Human Exposures and Groundwater Environmental Indicators have been met at the Cyclops facility.
In August 2017, EPA issued a Final Decision for the Cyclops facility requiring Institutional Controls to restrict land use. The Institutional Controls are listed below in “Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility”.
Cleanup Background
The groundwater at the site has not formally received non-use aquifer designation from PADEP, however, the facility and surrounding properties are on public water. The Buyer Covenants in the Consent Order & Agreement (CO&A) included not to use the groundwater for any consumptive use. In 1994, benzene concentrations in groundwater monitoring wells MW-4 and MW-5 exceeded the MSC. MW-3 which is down gradient of the source area did not contain petroleum compounds.
In 1995, approximately 250 tons of soil were excavated, treated, and re-introduced into the excavation as clean backfill (some contaminated soil could not be treated due to building structural integrity concerns). Confirmation soil samples analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) following the source area remediation showed that these constituents were less than analytical detection limits or were well below Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) generic groundwater protection levels. On September 24, 1996, PADEP stated the requirements of the CO&A had been met.
In 2003, benzene was detected in soil at 10-12 feet bgs in the underground storage tank (UST) area at concentrations that exceeded the used aquifer soil-to groundwater MSC. Benzene was detected in groundwater at 265 ug/L. Additionally, cyanide was detected at two soil sampling locations above the Act 2 soil-to-groundwater MSC for used aquifers. Cyanide was not detected in groundwater above the MSCs.
Site Description
Interactive Map of Cyclops Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The facility is situated on approximately five acres of land along Herron Ave in Pittsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The facility is restricted to commercial/industrial use.
From 1934 to 1995, the facility was operated by the Cyclops Corporation which manufactured industrial metal building panels. Some documents state that E.G. Smith Construction Products owned the site along with Cyclops. In 1993 the property was transferred to Smith Steelite. John Maneely Company, which did business as Pittsburg Industrial Plating (PIP), purchased the facility in 1995. PIP operated from 1995 until 2002. Sampson Morris Group purchased and redeveloped the property in 2006. Sampson Morris is a commercial real estate development and property management organization that specializes in the purchase and repositioning of office and warehouse properties in western Pennsylvania.
On November 15, 1980, Cyclops submitted a Part A Hazardous Waste Permit Application to USEPA. On December 22, 1980, the USEPA ID: PAD087569620 was assigned. A firm called PIP (Pittsburgh Industrial Plating) , located at One Herron Avenue, was also assigned USEPA ID: PAD987397148 in 1995. On May 21, 1997, PIP wished to retire the latter ID that was issued in 1995. However, both EPA IDs are associated with the same location at 1 Herron A venue. Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) info Facility Information for PAD087569620, PIP is still associated with that EPA ID as Large Quantity Generator (LQG) (active), although PIP does not own or operate the facility any longer and no waste generation activities currently exist at the location.
Contaminants at this Facility
Primary concern was benzene from former underground storage tanks.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Covenant at the Cyclops facility:
- The Facility property shall not be used for residential purpose unless it is demonstrated to EPA that such use will not pose a threat to human health and EPA provides prior written approval of such use.
- Any excavation or other construction activity within the footprint of contaminated areas at the Facility shall employ measures to protect workers from unacceptable exposure to contaminants.
- The Facility property shall not use groundwater unless it is demonstrated to EPA that such use will not pose a threat to human health and EPA provides prior written approval of such use.
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
The facility is being reused.
Site Responsibility at this Facility
RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility have been conducted under the direction of EPA Region 3 with assistance from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.