![]() “The real danger is, it has to be ingested before it’s harmful. “It’s been used only in the roadways,” Bergmaier said. Some yards in Palmerton have soil with similar lead concentrations, and EPA is considering removing the contaminated dirt. Tests on 57 samples showed that lead content exceeded 500 parts per million. … We’re satisfied that it’s safe environmentally,” he said.Īfter Shoener raised concerns, however, PennDOT tested the cinders using a different method to determine how much lead was in the material, not just what drained through it. “We’ve looked at the materials, and it doesn’t assume a form that is easily taken in by a human. Horsehead’s George said that tests of the product show it is safe. Second, the cinders are tested to determine how much lead and other metals leach through the material when wet all of the tests showed that the amount of lead that leaches through is negligible, if at all, he said. First, PennDOT checks them for size and shape particles can’t be too big that the pieces can break car’s windshields when kicked up from the road. PennDOT requires two tests of the road cinders before using them, Bergmaier said. Stony Ridge Inc., a Horsehead subsidiary since 1990, sells this material for Horsehead. The company calls what’s left iron-rich material, which has several uses: as a filter in waste-water treatment plants, as an additive for the cement industry and as an anti-skid material for roads. The dust is trucked into Palmerton, where it is recycled into a variety of zinc-related products such as zinc oxide. One material the companies recycle is a dust that is discarded by steel manufacturers. New Jersey Zinc’s successors, Horsehead and the Zinc Corp. ![]() Nearly 10 years later, EPA is still considering how to clean up lead-contaminated homes and soil in the borough. in Palmerton had contaminated soil and defoliated Blue Mountain, which overlooks the town. Environmental Protection Agency have been looking closely at the potential sources of lead in the Palmerton area.ĮPA declared the area a Superfund site in 1982 because emissions from the zinc ore smelters run by the former New Jersey Zinc Co. ![]() He raised the question because DER and the U.S. PennDOT’s examination of whether to use the Horsehead cinders began late last month, after Shoener questioned whether the state should be using an anti-skid material that contained lead. The agency is working out details to cancel those contracts and buy other anti-skid material from the second lowest bidder. PennDOT had even signed contracts with the Horsehead subsidiary that sells the material to use again this winter. But those cinders - which cost an average of $6 per ton for $48,000 - will not be used. PennDOT had 8,000 tons left from last winter. We don’t want to use anything that could be harmful to humans or animals.” “We’re taking what we think are the most prudent steps that have to be taken. ![]() “I don’t want to become an alarmist,” PennDOT’s Jim Bergmaier said. ![]()
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