U.S. Gypsum, 561 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, New York
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EPA
Region		 Location of facility Type of facility Amount
of ore
received
(in tons)		 Did
EPA
visit
the
site?		 Were
samples
taken?		 Results of
evaluation
2 561 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, New York Gypsum board manufacturer Unknown Yes-June 8, 2000 No Although there were no records showing that this site received shipments of Libby ore, “U.S. Gypsum – Staten Island” was on a list of W.R. Grace licensees and industrial partners. After an Internet search, EPA determined that there was a company identified as U. S. Gypsum located at this address in Staten Island, New York. U.S. Gypsum formerly produced wallboard at this location. According to research that EPA conducted on the wallboard/sheet rock industry, raw vermiculite would have been used in the sheetrock mix to produce fire rated sheetrock. The vermiculite would prevent the sheetrock from shrinking during a fire, thus maintaining its shape and form for a short period of time during a fire. At the time of EPA's visit, a company named Atlantic Salt was using the site as an industrial and road salt distribution terminal. Atlantic Salt had purchased the property in about 1977 from U.S. Gypsum and occupied the property the following year. Atlantic Salt primarily used an outdoor area for salt storage, however, during the winter months, one of the former U.S. Gypsum buildings was used for salt storage. Many of the original U.S. Gypsum buildings were still present on the property and were severely deteriorated. According to EPA, although vermiculite was not apparent during the site visit, a large number of transite siding panels (which may contain asbestos, but not the type found in Libby vermiculite ore) were found on one of the buildings. As a result, a referral was made to the EPA Region 2 Air Compliance Branch Regional Asbestos Coordinator to check on the need for possible transite asbestos abatement. With this referral, EPA did not anticipate any further actions related to asbestos-contaminated vermiculite at this site.

GAO-09-6R