EPA May Add HV Metalwork Plant To U.S. Superfund Priority List

CORTLANDT, NY — A significant public health threat, the old Magna Metals plant site in northwestern Westchester County could be added to the Superfund Program's National Priorities List, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday. Magna Metals operated for a quarter-century; and the soil, groundwater, a nearby stream and sediment are contaminated with a long list of toxins.

The site at 510 Furnace Dock Road in Cortlandt has been on the state of New York's Superfund site list for a long time, classified as a Class 2 site representing a significant threat to public health and/or the environment.

Some homes in the area, which is primarily residential, have contaminated soil on their property immediately adjacent to Furnace Brook, and are located near contaminated sediment.

“Adding Magna Metals to the Superfund list is an important action to protect Cortlandt’s children and families from potential exposure to harmful site contaminants,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “The legal and technical resources of the federal Superfund program will allow EPA to build on the previous actions by the state of New York and Westchester County to resolve decades-old problems associated with this site.”

Magna Metals conducted metal plating, polishing, and lacquering operations at the site from 1955 to 1979. During operations, iron, lead, copper, nickel, zinc chlorides, cyanides, and sulfates were discharged to a series of leaching pits. Spent trichloroethene (TCE) was allegedly discharged to the septic system, the DEC said in 2011.

County and state officials began investigating the site for environmental contamination and health threats in 1978, a year before the company stopped operations. The state's investigation resulted in some steps to mitigate risks from potential exposure. Those steps included demolishing the former plant and installing a system to vent gas away from the occupied office and warehouse building at the facility. Read the state's proposed mediation plan from 2011 here.

The factory was demolished in 2013. Buildings on the property are currently being used for offices, a laboratory, and warehousing.

Furnace Brook is the main surface water body that contains contaminated sediment, including about 1.5 miles of freshwater wetland.

Now the property is one of six hazardous waste sites proposed for the national list.

Affected residents have been provided with soil sample results and advised on how to reduce potential exposures in the short-term, the EPA said.

MAP via NYDEC