News Release from EPA Region 3

Allegheny-Ludlum to pay $535,000 in cleanup costs for Breslube-Penn Superfund site

       PHILADELPHIA (February 22, 2012) -- In settlement papers filed in federal district court, Allegheny-Ludlum has agreed to reimburse the federal government for $535,000 of past cleanup costs at the Breslube-Penn Superfund site in Coraopolis, Pa., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

Allegheny Ludlum is the last of 158 responsible parties to reach a settlement with EPA since 2005 over cleanup costs associated with the site, where EPA continues to oversee ongoing cleanup activities being paid for by the responsible parties.

Under the Superfund law (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act), the landowners, waste generators and waste transporters that are responsible for the contamination of a Superfund site must either clean up the site, or reimburse the government or other parties for cleanup activities.

In June 1996, EPA added the Breslube-Penn Site to the EPA’s Superfund National Priority List of sites where hazardous contaminants could impact public health and/or the environment. Industrial activities at the site contaminated soil and groundwater with volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, PCBs, metals, and cyanide.

Wiseman Oil, Inc constructed a fuel oil recycling facility on the site in 1978 that was used to manufacture lubricating oil by recycling waste oil. After Wiseman Oil became bankrupt in 1982, the property was purchased by Breslube-Penn Inc., which continued used oil reprocessing until 1986. The facility was used as a used oil transfer station from 1987 until it was closed in 1992.

Additional information about the ongoing cleanup and site history is available at http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/PAD089667695/index.htm .