PETITIONED PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT
CALLERY CHEMICAL COMPANY
EVANS CITY, BUTLER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Community members living in Evans City, Pennsylvania, petitioned the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to address health concerns regarding potential emissions from the Callery Chemical Company. Callery Chemical Company, a division of Mine Safety Appliances Company (MSA), is located about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh at 1420 Mars-Evans Road, Evans City, Pennsylvania, 16033. Residents were concerned about the incidence of brain cancer within their community from potential emissions from this site. The Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Epidemiology, evaluated cancer incidence in communities living in southwestern Butler County. Only the incidence of breast cancer was observed to be elevated above an expected number of cases reported in southwestern Butler County. No increase in brain cancer was observed in the southwestern Butler County community. No sampling data were available to determine the potential type and concentration of contaminants present at the Callery Chemical site. ATSDR is currently working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to obtain sampling data. ATSDR will review the data, when available, for plausible exposures and adverse health outcomes. ATSDR classifies the Callery site as an indeterminate public health hazard.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was petitioned by a community member of Evans City, Pennsylvania, to determine if potential health effects may result from operations at the Callery Chemical Company. Community members requested ATSDR to evaluate potential releases of toxic chemicals, particularly boron, from this site. In this health assessment, ATSDR will review the environmental data that are available and make recommendations to obtain future sampling data necessary to evaluate plausible pathways of exposure.
The community surrounding the Callery Chemical site expressed concern regarding a perceived increase in the incidence of brain cancers that may be associated with potential boron exposure from the site.
Callery Chemical Company, a division of Mine Safety Appliances Company (MSA), is located about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh at 1420 Mars-Evans Road, Evans City, Pennsylvania, 16033. Mars-Evans Road runs through this property to the north and south. The plant has been operating in Evans City since 1941, and portions of the 100-acre facility lie within Adams Township, Callery Boro, and Forward Township, Butler County. Approximately 50 buildings on this site and were used for offices, research and development, and manufacturing. To date, 12 of these buildings have been demolished. Historically, operations have been conducted by four divisions of MSA at this site: MSA Safety Products Division, Callery Chemical Company, MSA Research, and Advanced Systems Division. Currently, most operations on-site are conducted by Callery Chemical. Callery has been producing chemicals for more than 50 years. Specialty chemicals produced at this facility include boron chemicals, metal alkoxides, and alkali metals. The facility currently has approximately 250 employees.
The Callery facility is surrounded by areas that are predominately rural and agricultural. Some residential and light industrial areas are within one mile of the site. Evans City is approximately 2 miles northwest of the facility, while the town of Callery is within approximately 2000 feet south of the facility. It is reported that residents receive drinking water from private wells (1). The facility was composed of four areas (Map A): a 30-acre central portion of the site used for manufacturing, the wastewater treatment facility located on a 10-acre section in the northwestern section, a four-acre northeastern section that contains an abandoned manufacturing area, and the n-hexyl carborane (nHC) plant in the northeastern corner.
The wastewater treatment facility was located within an oxbow of Breakneck Creek, which flows toward the north through the facility. The treatment facility was approximately 20 feet above the creek. The creek was reported to have flooded several times each year (1). Hydrogeologic evaluations near the treatment facility demonstrated that shallow groundwater flows radially away from the treatment facility towards Breakneck Creek. A shallow aquifer is located five to six feet below the surface (1). According to Callery Chemical Company, all regulated underground storage tanks at the facility have been removed in accordance with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) guidelines, former wastewater impoundments were closed in the 1970's, and the four replacement impoundments have also been closed according to state guidelines. Two fish kills have been documented for the creek (1). Twelve monitoring wells are located around the treatment facility, and quarterly groundwater reports are submitted to PADEP. Additional monitoring wells are located near the nHC plant.
In January of 1993, A.T. Kearney conducted a Draft Phase II Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Facility Assessment (RFA) of the Callery site for EPA. The report (June 1993) contains information obtained from a review of available documents from regulatory files at EPA Region III in Philadelphia, PADEP, and from a visual inspection of the site conducted on January 27, 1993.
The Callery facility started receiving municipal water in 1954. Process waste is generated during various manufacturing, assembly, and research activities. Currently, waste is either shipped off-site or treated in one of the three waste treatment areas, Unit 1A, 1B, or the Waste Treatment Facility. Several Drum Storage Areas handle various types of hazardous wastes. In addition, reports indicated that MSA received hazardous wastes from sources off-site between December 1983 to June 1985 (1). Incidences of hazardous waste violations have been reported (1). In mid-January 1996, during an EPA removal action, pentaborane gas cylinders were being neutralized inside a steel vessel and an explosion occurred during nitrogen purging of the process equipment. A chemical release was not reported to have occurred.
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