DEP finishes cleaning up asbestos at site

STONEBORO, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has completed a $1 million cleanup of asbestos contamination at an industrial site near Sandy Lake. Franklin Manufacturing Co. made products containing asbestos there from 1909 until it went out of business in 1923 and the waste materials were left there in a half-acre pile, the DEP said.
"In recent years, the potential for asbestos exposure grew as off-road vehicles and other trespassers traveled the site, disturbing the waste pile," said Steven Beckman, DEP regional director.
Because Franklin was out of business, the DEP had to tap Pennsylvania's Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act to find the money to dig up and haul away 15,000 tons of asbestos-containing waste for disposal at an approved site, Beckman said. The $1 million price tag was nearly four times the original estimate.
"Initially, we did not realize that the waste extended 10 to 15 feet below ground level," Beckman said.
Preliminary engineering had estimated the pile of waste at about 5,000 tons. The pile was on a 380-acre site along state Route 845, adjacent to Sandy Lake and a residential recreation area.