OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460



## N ATIONAL 

## P RIORITIES 

## L IST 

## (NPL)

***Proposed Site*** September 2011


### METROCONTAINERCORP ORATION Trainer, Pennsylvania Delaware County

 **Site Location :**  The Metro Container Corporation is located approximately 20 miles south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a mixed industrial/commercial/residential area along the Delaware River.

 **Site History:**

The site has a long industrial history. At the close of the 19 th century, the site was occupied by the Delaware Oil

Works. From 1920 until 1959, the Stauffer Chemical Company, Inc. (Stauffer) operated a chemical manufacturing plant on the property and manufactured a variety of chemicals. Historical site maps and aerial photographs indicate that Stauffer constructed a waste disposal lagoon in the 1950s in the southwest corner of the site, adjacent to Stoney

Creek

. In April 1963, the property was purchased by the Joseph A. Reis Company and converted into a steel drum

reco nditioning facility . After several changes in ownership, in 1983, the property was sold to the Metro Container Corporation . This company was the last in t he series of owners who conduct ed drum reconditioning operations at the

site . Drum reconditioning ende d in December 1987 w hen Metro Container fil ed for bankruptcy . The site is currently owned by Trainer Industries, an industrial painting company. The site is used mainly for storage as most of the painting is done offsite.

 **Site C ontamination/Contaminants:** 

The main source of contamination remaining on the property is a backfilled industrial waste lagoon which is about 0.5

acres in size. This lagoon was used for disposal of drum contents and wastewater until a wastewater treatment s ystem was constructed on site. The unlined lagoon was eventually filled in with soil and ar tificial fill materials a nd is no longer accessible. Additionally , site soils are contaminated. This contamination has been traced to the tidal flats adjacent to the Delaware River. Although polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are the main contaminants of concern, the site is also contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and inorganics.

 **Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment :**  The tidal flats along the Delaware River are contaminated . Also, fishing occurs in the Delaware River in this area. There is a fishing advisory along the Delaware from Trenton, New Jersey to the C&D Canal in Delaware for the consumption of finfish due to PCBs, dioxin, mercury and chlorinated pesticides.

 **Response Activities (to date):**

In 1989

- 1990, under an EPA consent order, several responsible parties conducted a response action at the facility. The

response action included the removal of approximately 58,000 drums, removal of all accumulated sludge and decommissioning of the lagoon.

 **Need for NPL Listing:**

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania referred th e site to EPA because of the potential for continued releases of

contaminants from the site into the Delaware River. EPA receive d a l etter of support for placing this site on the NPL

from the s tate . The local residents also support cleanup of the site.

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.]

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 Agen cy 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.