FOLLANSBEE — As the present owner of land formerly held by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp., a local business plans to pursue an environmental cleanup ordered of the steel firm in 1998.
Empire Go-Green Recycling is seeking approval to rehabilitate about 36 acres between Veterans Drive and the Norfolk-Southern Railroad under guidelines set by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Voluntary Remediation Program.
A permit application by Empire is pending through the department, which is accepting public comment up to Jan. 3. A digital copy is available through the Brooke County Public Library.
Empire has stated its intention to excavate and contain contaminated soil, which state DEP officials said includes derivatives of coal tar and metals remaining from landfilling and industrial activity at the site through the years.
The application notes it was used as a sand and gravel quarry from the 1950s to the 1970s and was the site of coal loading and equipment fueling in the 1950s and 1960s before it was acquired by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.
According to the state’s records, the steel firm used it for the disposal of basic oxygen furnace residuals, debris from plant demolition and coal tar decanter sludge.
The site is less than a mile from the Ohio River but itself contains no streams or surface water, noted staff with Environmental Standards Inc., an environmental consulting firm hired to assess it.
It is part of 610 acres formerly owned by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, which was ordered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a cleanup prior to its bankruptcy.
More than 400 acres of the property was acquired by 6twelve Properties, which was recognized in 2017 by the West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center for its efforts to rehabilitate other lots there under the direction of the EPA.
The center noted the company’s removal of industrial slag, steel filings and tar decanter sludge from the lots.
Headed by Scott Ewusiak, formerly of 6twelve Properties, Empire Go-Green Recycling is a subsidiary of Empire Diversified Energy.
The Florida-based company has promoted the site, formerly known as Trimodal Terminal, as a barge loading facility for various industries.
Seen as a potential midwestern industrial transportation hub that could employ hundreds, it has been redubbed the Port of West Virginia. The West Virginia Development Authority has issued $26 million in bonds for the development of wharf and dock facilities there.
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