1.2 Site History/ NPL Ranking and Listing

1.2 Site History/NPL Ranking and Listing of the Roebling Steel Mill Superfund Site

In 1981, John A. Roebling Steel Company (JARSCO) was cited for noncompliance for operations at the Roebling Steel Company regarding the wastewater treatment plant on Site.  New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued a notice of prosecution seeking the removal of oil drums as well as other hazardous wastes stored on site.  A Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) inspection of the Site was performed, and JARSCO was then sited for storage of baghouse dust without a permit.  NJDEP then inspected and sampled sludge lagoons on the property and found the sludge to contain volatile organics (VOCs), as well as heavy metals.

On July 22, 1981, JARSCO removed approximately 20,000 gallons of waste oil and 60 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the site.  Following this removal on February 1, 1982, NJDEP issued JARSCO a deadline to submit a compliance plan addressing the violation of monitoring requirements for the wastewater treatment plant on Site.  Since the Roebling Steel Mill Company was closed in November 1981, this requirement was not met.  In June 1982, NJDEP required the installation of two groundwater monitoring wells downgradient from the lagoons, and one upgradient.  EPA issued a complain and compliance order which directed JARSCO to stop the storing of hazardous wastes on Site without a permit, and to remove the spilled dust and contaminated soil on Site.  In February of 1983, JARSCO abandoned the Site without addressing the permit noncompliance’s issued back in 1981. 

The Roebling Steel Mill was proposed for the National Priority List (NPL) on December 1, 1982. In 1983, EPA performed a site inspection, discovering seventy buildings, two sludge lagoons, an inactive landfill, pits and sumps containing hazardous material, railroad cars containing fly ash, contaminated river and creek sediments, impacted wetlands, a network of underground piping containing liquids and sludge, friable asbestos insulation covering pipes, and contaminated groundwater.  Soil samples were taken and the assembling the data in a Remedial Action Master Plan preceded. 

After Preliminary Assessment and Site Investigation activities, the Roebling Steel Site was given a Hazardous Ranking Score (HRS) of 41.02 and was listed on the NPL of superfund sites on September 1, 1983. On September 8, 1983 a Federal Register Notice was filed for the Roebling Steel Company; stating the presence of two unlined lagoons on the Site, as well as, evidence of dumping and spillage.  The lagoons were estimated to be approximately 3 feet deep, containing heavy metals.  The Notice also stated possible burying of drums on site and an issue with run-off contaminating the nearby Delaware River.  The water table in the area was shown to be about 10 feet below the surface; human health was in question for the homes in Roebling, which rely on the ground water for drinking water.

 

In May 1985, EPA began a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) in order to determine the nature of the contamination on site and pursue remedial alternatives.  In 1985, notice letters pursuant to section 107(a) of the Comprehensive environmental response, compensation and liability act (CERCLA) were sent to eight potentially responsible parties (PRPs).  No PRP accepted responsibility or liability for the hazardous substances located on the Steel Mill property. 

In December 1985, NJDEP removed picric acid and other explosive chemicals from the laboratories on site; they were altered detonated at the Earle Naval Weapons Station.  Removal actions were preformed between October 1987 and November 1988.  During these Removal actions approximately 300 lab pack containers of chemicals containing acids, bases, inorganic salts, alcohols, and other halogenated and non-halogenated organic compounds, 3,203 55-gallon drums, 3 pounds of metallic mercury, 37 ton of baghouse dust, 1 drum of hazardous waste containing cyanide, 40 compressed gas cylinders containing flammable gas, oxidizers, corrosives, poisons, and other gases, 3,000 gallons of sulfuric acid, 2,150 gallons of phosphorous acid, 239,000 pounds of hazardous solids, and exposed asbestos were collected, removed, and properly disposed of off-site.  These removal actions were the first of many, cited in later Records of Decisions.