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Basement Excavation to Begin at Precision National Site

Release Date: 03/22/2007
Contact Information: David Sternberg (215) 814-5548; sternberg.david@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (March 22, 2007) Contractors for the Precision National Plating Company will begin excavating potentially contaminated soils beneath the basement of the company’s former facility, in Clarks Summit, Lackawanna County, Pa. The EPA and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will oversee the work, which is expected to begin the week of March 26.

From 1958 to 1999, Precision National ran a plating operation at the site, 198 Ackerly Road, which led to contamination of soils with hexavalent chromium.

“I want to stress that contractors for Precision National and the EPA will be performing air monitoring around the perimeter of the site throughout the excavation, and work will stop before the dust in the air reaches concentrations of concern,” said Raj Sharma, EPA’s On-Scene Coordinator. “If dust levels start to get too high, we will cease operations immediately, and dust suppression measures will be put in place before work is allowed to continue.” Sharma said that all data collected will be posted weekly on EPA’s website, www.epaosc.net/precision.

Excavated soils will be treated on-site, or transported to an appropriate waste facility for disposal, depending on the degree and extent of contamination.

Recent soil and water sampling shows that the injection of calcium polysulfide into contaminated soils at the site, completed last December, has been successful in reducing the levels of hexavalent chromium in site soils and an adjacent creek. The levels of hexavalent chromium were reduced below the established cleanup levels of 60 parts per million, in surface, and sub-surface soils. In nearby Ackerly Creek, which receives groundwater from the site, the sampling results were also encouraging.