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SUPERFUND BRIEFLY - A WEEKLY REPORT FOR PENNSYLVANIA

Release Date: 9/13/1998
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OHIO RIVER PARK, Neville Island, Allegheny County -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving ahead to ensure the Island Sports Center at the Neville Island/Ohio River Park Superfund Site will be built soon.  On September 8, EPA approved the final design plan for cleanup activities at the 32-acre site, situated on the western tip of the island.  In two weeks, the parties liable for the cleanup will start building a cap over the buried waste to prevent contamination from trickling down into the ground water.  All cleanup work is anticipated to be completed within three months.  EPA will closely monitor the site to ensure that there is no seepage of pollutants into Coraopolis municipal wells. In March of this year, construction began on the huge sports complex, with a golf driving range, indoor golf, and multi-purpose rinks courts.  EPA used accelerated cleanup methods to streamline the process.  Background:  From the 1930s to 1960s, byproducts of cokemaking and pesticide manufacturing, including arsenic, mercury, phenols, pesticides, other metals and carcinogens were disposed of on the site.  Owned by Pittsburgh Coke & Iron Co. from the 1920s until 1970, when the property was transferred to Neville Land Co., the site has been fenced off for 20 years, after contamination was discovered during construction of the park.  Since then, EPA has placed the site under Superfund, and in 1993 approved using a part of  it for piers to support the new Coraopolis Bridge.  A consent agreement was filed September 16, 1997, in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, which obligates Neville Land Co. to install the cap over the buried waste to prevent infiltration of ground water.  The agreement also requires surface water controls, long-term monitoring and deed restrictions against residential use of the property.  Seven municipal wells are 600 to 1,200 feet west-southwest of the site across the Back Channel of the Ohio River.  An estimated 1,273 people live on Neville Island.