SEPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-195
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
RCRA: Preventive Maintenance
for Potential Brownfields
BE ;M si
t is fitting that a site with a such a long and rich history of indus-
trial activity as Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania should
one day house the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of
Industrial History. When complete, this new museum will anchor a
shopping and entertainment center covering 160 acres of the former
steel site, on the banks of the Lehigh River. Over the next 20 years,
additional redevelopment projects are planned that will turn the once-
eminent industrial facility into a state-of-the-art entertainment and
cultural complex. Bethlehem Steel is a classic example of how
state and federal cleanup guidelines ensured that the site's contami-
nation levels were held within safe tolerances, and that the quality
of cleanup would make the land highly attractive to developers.
The plant dates back to 1857, when it began as a small rail-making
operation to support the expanding railroad industry. Bethlehem
Steel, established in 1904, eventually became the leading steel sup-
plier to the construction industry. During both World Wars, Bethlehem
Steel was a major supplier of armor plate, and during peacetime the
company met the demands of the booming construction industry.
However, by 1990 the company had become an industrial dinosaur,
and in 1995, Bethlehem Steel finally ceased operations.
Like so many other properties in this area of the Lehigh Valley in
Northampton County, Bethlehem Steel might have been classified
as a "brownfield"—an idle, abandoned or underused property with
cont. ^
JUSTTHE FACTS:
1 Prior to RCRA, it often made more economic
sense for owners to simply abandon their
contaminated properties after years of
unregulated waste disposal.
1 Under RCRA, Bethlehem Steel's owners were
required to conduct studies to determine exact
levels and areas of contamination, and to take
corrective action.
1 Plans for the site include a hotel and confer-
ence center; a giant, indoor swimming pool;
two recreational ice rinks; a multi-screen
theater; and retail shops and restaurants.
The Bethlehem Steel property is
a classic example of how state
and federal cleanup guidelines
ensured that the site's contamina-
tion levels were held within safe
tolerances, and that the quality of
cleanup would make the land
highly attractive to developers.
ERA'S Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in
economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A
brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA
is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to
test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for
residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in
the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities,
and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site
assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
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uncertain levels of contamination. In fact, in May 1998 Northampton County
was awarded a Brownfields Assessment Pilot from the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency (EPA) to create an inventory and conduct assessments on
former industrial properties within the valley. But Bethlehem Steel had
been operating under guidelines set by the federal Resource Conserva-
tion and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976; to receive a RCRA permit
that allowed the plant's operation, Bethlehem Steel's owners had to
demonstrate they were capable of managing and cleaning up hazard-
ous wastes associated with steel production. Established to address
the nation's accelerating generation of municipal and industrial solid
waste, the RCRA program created a framework for managing waste
from its creation to its disposal—a "cradle-to-grave" approach to pre-
venting contamination.
Prior to RCRA, it often made more economic sense for owners to simply abandon
their contaminated properties after years of unregulated waste disposal, resulting in a
brownfield—or, in some extreme cases—a federal Superfund site. But under RCRA,
Bethlehem Steel's owners were required to conduct environmental studies to determine
exact levels and areas of contamination, and to take corrective action based on their
findings. The property's owners are working with the Pennsylvania Department of Envi-
ronmental Protection (PADEP) to clean up the site in accordance with the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania's own brownfields law, which sets cleanup standards for former
commercial and industrial sites and provides liability releases to property owners that com-
ply. Of the 450 redevelopment projects overseen by the state brownfields law, Bethlehem
Steel is the first cleanup where PADEP and EPA have worked together to satisfy state
and federal RCRA cleanup requirements with a single plan.
Approximately 375 tons of soil contaminated with arsenic and lead will eventually be
removed from the Bethlehem Steel property and taken to permitted landfills. Soil remain-
ing onsite will be capped under the future roads and buildings planned as part of redevel-
opment. The future entertainment complex planned for the site will include a 200-room
hotel and conference center; a giant, indoor swimming pool; two recreational ice rinks; a
multi-screen theater; and at least 20 retail shops and restaurants. The Smithsonian's new
museum will be located in the interior of one of the old factories and occupy approximately
330,000 square feet. The museum will feature a live-action exhibit entitled the Iron and
Steel Showcase, displaying artifacts and information that will provide an interactive edu-
cation for this bygone era. If not for federal RCRA guidelines and the state's diligence in
implementing its own brownfields law, Bethlehem Steel might be just another one of the
abandoned industrial sites scattered across the Lehigh Valley. Now, the property will
benefit all those involved in its redevelopment, contribute to the state and local economy,
and restore the sense of pride and admiration for the steel industry and its workers long
absent from the idle site.
CONTACTS:
U.S. EPA-Region 3
(215)814-3410
Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Success Story
May 2000
Bethlehem Steel
EPA 500-F-00-195
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