Fire at plant is allowed to burn out
About 2 million pounds of scrap magnesium remain on the site.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
WEST PITTSBURG, Pa. — Recent heavy rains likely caused a single 55-gallon drum of magnesium to ignite at the defunct Remacor plant in Taylor Township.
Taylor Township Fire Chief Dave Allegro said the single drum was outside and isolated from other drums stored at the facility when it started burning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. He said it stopped burning after about an hour. Magnesium reacts with water and cannot be extinguished. Allegro said they usually let these fires burn out on their own.
The plant has been subject to fires in recent years including one in August 2005 that burned down the recycling plant and essentially stopped all business.
Allegro credited the recent cleanup efforts by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for making the 45-acre site safer. To date about 3 million pounds of magnesium have been removed and another 2 million pounds are still awaiting removal, he said.
“Now that they are starting to haul it out, they are segregating it into smaller areas. There’s a lot less in there than there was six months ago,” the fire chief said.
What’s being done
Freda Tarbell of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said the EPA has identified about 28 companies who paid Remacor to dispose of their scrap magnesium. To date about half have either removed and made arrangements to remove the drums from the site. Those drums are then either disposed of or, if still viable, taken to another facility for recycling.
The property was once owned by Remacor, a company that processed the scrap magnesium for use in the steel industry, but it is now overseen by Lawrence County, which is owed $1 million in back taxes on the land and buildings.
cioffi@vindy.com