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EPA Completes Federal Superfund Cleanup At Abandoned Hazardous Waste Site in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Release Date: 11/12/1998
Contact Information:

(#98157) NEW YORK -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finished the cleanup of improperly stored hazardous materials at the abandoned All Plating Corporation property at 154 North 7th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. EPA removed more than 7,000 gallons of electroplating solutions stored in vats and drums, and contaminated containers to prevent a potential chemical release at the site. The materials have been disposed of at off-site licensed facilities. The Agency spent $400,000 on the cleanup which began in September.

The site housed an electroplating and metal-finishing firm that ceased operations in early 1997 after the owner failed to comply with orders from New York City to clean it up. EPA addressed the site under the federal Superfund removal program and coordinated its cleanup activities with the New York City Departments of Environmental Protection, Fire and Police.

"The chemicals and storage conditions at the site created a real potential for a release of dangerous substances into the environment. Under EPA's Superfund program, we have taken swift action to protect members of the local community who live in close proximity to the site," EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox said. "The operation went smoothly and we have turned the site back over the City of New York."

EPA inspected the site this Spring at the city's request and found an incompatible mix of heavy metals, acids, corrosives and other hazardous materials improperly stored in leaking drums and bags. Several open vats and tanks containing a variety of chemicals and heavy metals were also inside the deteriorated building where fires and vandalism have occurred. In addition, two trailers outside the building contained corrosives and acids in pails and drums.

This is the second EPA Superfund removal action in Williamsburg during the 1990s. In 1995, EPA removed all the chemical hazards from the abandoned Slattery Gas Stove site on Wallabout Street at a cost of more than $1 million. EPA's Superfund program has been successfully used for hazardous cleanups in other boroughs of New York City including the Radium Chemical Superfund site in Woodside and the Hexagon Lab site in the Bronx.

For more information contact:
Richard Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]