OLD P

1
OLD PLE RAILYARD MCKEES ROCKS

• Brownfields and Economic Revitalization of the
  Inner City

Ipek Erzi Priscila Vargas
2
Location

• 100 acres
• 30 acres in McKees Rocks Borough
• 70 acres in Stowe Township
• Bordered by the Ohio River to the east
• Accessible from the McKees Rocks Bridge, PA Route
  65 51

3
Location
Overgrade Diesel shop MKR Bridge CSX
Tracks Lockhart MKR ME Shop Overgrade
4
Site

• Zoned commercial
• Sold for 950,000
• Buildings - National Registry of Historic Places
• 70 acres - Stowe Township
• No major contamination
• Bought by one person
• 30 acres - McKees Rocks Borough
• Diesel shop area
• Bought by four people

5
History

• Prior to Industrialization
• Flat land, adjacent to Ohio River
• End of 18th century Farming and trading

6
History

• Railroad and Industrialization
• Pittsburgh Lake Erie Railroad started in1879,
  89 miles from South Side to Youngstown through
  McKees Rocks
• 1888 PL.E.R.R. started maintenance and repair
  in McKees Rocks
• Little Giant

7
History

• Three mills by the railroad
• 1881 Iron City Bridge Works
• 1882 Pittsburgh Steel Works
• 1882 Vulcan Forge and Iron Works, Long Co. -
  later Lockhart Steel (1890).

8
History

• PLE Chronology
• 1889 PLE became a subsidiary of New York
  Central
• 1968 Penn Central
• 1970 Penn Central bankrupt
• 1979 PLE independent again
• 1982-1986 PLE loses money
• 1996 PLE bankrupt

9
History

• Site Ownership
• End of 1980s - ARPI-owned by one person
• 1992 Three Rivers buys tracks
• 1993 Three Rivers merges with CSXT
• 1996 PLE goes bankrupt
• 1997 ARPI buys PLE

10
History

• 1997 ARPI buys PLE
• Spring 1999 ARPI breaches contract with PLE
• 22 November 1999- site sold to tenants by the
  bankruptcy court

11
Community Profile

• Population 7691
• Households 3291
• Race 6554 white, 1078 black, 59 other
• Old town
• Housing units 3676
• Publicprivate water 3671
• Public Sewer 3663
• 1990 US Census Data

12
Community Profile
13
Community Profile

• Housing Units
• Owner Occupied 1637
• Renter Occupied 1654
• Allegheny Public Housing
• Two existing units
• One more planned

14
Community Profile
15
Environmental Aspects
16
Environmental Aspects - Spills, Leaks

• Related to PLE
• 1988 petroleum products to enter a sewer
• 1989 40 gallons of diesel enter soil
• 1992 discharged petroleum products into a storm
  water facilities
• Leaks from storage tanks
• General pollution in the site

17
Environmental Aspects - Spills, Leaks

• Related to CSX
• 1992 1500 gallons of oil spilled from a ruptured
  locomotive fuel tank

18
Environmental / Legal Aspects - Orders

• PLE
• Nov. 1988 Notice of violation requesting soil
  and groundwater remediation
• Sep. 1992 Order requesting
• Groundwater Phase I, II, and III.
• Soils Phase I and II.

19
Environmental / Legal Aspects - Orders

• CSX
• Nov. 1992 Request for information about the 1500
  gallons spill remediation.
• 1993 Assessment and remediation is conducted. No
  further action.

20
Environmental / Legal Aspects

• Legal process after the order -PLE
• Oct. 1992 PLE appeals the order
• Jun. 1995 A Consent Order and Agreement is filed
• PLE agrees on
• Ground water monitoring wells, recovery trench,
  and quarterly sampling.
• In situ soil remediation.
• Removal of waste drums in the property.
• Phase II prior to sale.

21
Environmental/Legal Aspects

• March 1996 PLE files for bankruptcy.
• April 1996 DEP objected motion filed by PLE.
• 1997 Phase II is conducted.
• 1998 Phase II is approved by DEP.
• Since 03/96 other COA obligations suspended.

22
Environmental Aspects

• Phase II Findings
• Soils
• Four VOCs in soils
• Pesticides
• Lead and mercury
• No SVOCs or PCBs
• Groundwater
• Two VOCs
• A Phase III is still needed

23
Environmental Aspects

• Current Status
• Major hazards removed.
• Piles of debris, metals, old structures, abandon
  buildings still on site.
• Pollution identified in Phase II still on site.

24
Environmental Aspects

• Current Status
• Obligations from COA still valid (Diesel Shop
  Area)
• Monitoring wells and recovery trench are
  installed, not operated.
• Groundwater reports are not submitted.
• Soil is not remediated.

25
Environmental Aspects

• Perspectives
• Obligations under COA are still valid for the
  current owners of the land.
• Eventually, DEP can ask for land cleanup
  (according to Phase II findings) or
• Property owners can do it under Act 2 terms.
• Nothing is being done.

26
Tenants
27
Overgrade
?
Map
28
Diesel Shop
?
Map
29
McKees Rocks Bridge
?
Map
30
CSX Tracks
?
Map
31
Lockhart Steel
?
Map
32
McKees Rocks
?
Map
33
Machine and Erecting ShopBoiler and Tank Shop
?
Map
34
Overgrade
?
Map
35
Future

• The tenants became the owners
• ACS will expand its business
• Who will be responsible for the diesel shop?