Hazardous Waste Cleanup: BASF Corporation (Formerly: Mine Safety Appliances Company) in Evans City, Pennsylvania
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
Cleanup Status
EPA is in the process of reviewing existing environmental information for the Former Mine Safety Appliance Company facility (“MSA” or “Facility”) to determine if further investigation is required.
EPA sets national goals to measure progress toward meeting the nation’s major environmental goals. For Corrective Action, EPA evaluates two key environmental indicators for each facility: (1) current human exposures under control and (2) migration of contaminated groundwater under control. Based on a review of available information, EPA determined that the Facility met both of these indicators on October 16, 2002.
Site Description
The former MSA facility, which is currently owned and operated by BASF Corporation (BASF), is located on Mars-Evans City Road, approximately two miles southeast of Evans City, Butler County, Pennsylvania. The Facility occupies an irregularly shaped 100-acre parcel of property. Manufacturing, research product storage, and waste management activities are conducted within the Manufacturing Plant, which is composed of approximately 50 buildings covering approximately 30-acres in the central portion of the Facility. Land use surrounding the Facility is mainly rural residential, agricultural and light industrial.
The original Manufacturing Plant was constructed in the 1900s and was purchased by MSA in 1940. MSA began operations at the Facility in 1941. Prior to 1941, the Facility property is believed to be farmland. Manufacturing and research operations were conducted at this location by MSA divisions known as Safety Products, Filter Products, Callery Chemical Company (Callery), MSA Research (MSAR), and Advanced Systems Division (ASD).
Historical hazardous wastes generated by the Facility include caustic wastewater, spent materials from equipment clean-out and laboratory activities, and methanol scrubber solutions. MSA operated a captive hazardous waste storage facility and several permit-by-rule (PBR) treatment units. It also utilized an on-site wastewater treatment plant to manage its industrial and sanitary wastewaters.
BASF Corporation, headquartered in New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany. Products from the BASF Evans City facility are used mainly in the pharmaceutical industry, and are also used in applications like agrochemicals, surfactants, adhesives, polymers, electronics, flavors, fragrances and automobiles.
Contaminants at this Facility
Hazardous wastes generated by the Facility include caustic wastewater, spent materials from equipment clean-out and laboratory activities, and methanol scrubber solutions.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Currently there are no institutional controls at the facility.
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
Site is under continued use.
Site Responsibility at this Facility
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action activities at this facility have been conducted under the direction of EPA Region 3.