SEPA
Untied States
Environmental Protection
Agency
National Priorities List (NPL)
* * *Proposed Site * * *
METRO CONTAINER CORPORATION
OSWER/OSRTI
Washington, DC 20460
September 2011
Trainer, Pennsylvania
Delaware County
(?) Site Location:
The Metro Container Corporation is located approximately 20 miles south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a mixed
industrial/commercial/residential area along the Delaware River.
Site History:
The site has a long industrial history. At the close of the 19th century, the site was occupied by the Delaware Oil
Works. From 1920 until 1959, the Stauffer Chemical Company, Inc. (Stauffer) operated a chemical manufacturing
plant on the property and manufactured a variety of chemicals. Historical site maps and aerial photographs indicate
that Stauffer constructed a waste disposal lagoon in the 1950s in the southwest corner of the site, adjacent to Stoney
Creek. In April 1963, the property was purchased by the Joseph A. Reis Company and converted into a steel drum
reconditioning facility. After several changes in ownership, in 1983, the property was sold to the Metro Container
Corporation. This company was the last in the series of owners who conducted drum reconditioning operations at the
site. Drum reconditioning ended in December 1987 when Metro Container filed for bankruptcy. The site is currently
owned by Trainer Industries, an industrial painting company. The site is used mainly for storage as most of the
painting is done offsite.
I Site Contamination/Contaminants:
The main source of contamination remaining on the property is a backfilled industrial waste lagoon which is about 0.5
acres in size. This lagoon was used for disposal of drum contents and wastewater until a wastewater treatment system
was constructed on site. The unlined lagoon was eventually filled in with soil and artificial fill materials and is no
longer accessible. Additionally, site soils are contaminated. This contamination has been traced to the tidal flats
adjacent to the Delaware River. Although polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are the main contaminants of concern, the
site is also contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and
inorganics.
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