| J.P. Austin Associates, Inc./A-TOPS Vermiculite, 1060 24th Street, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania |
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1060 24th Street, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania | Active exfoliation facility | Unknown | Yes-March 23, 2000 | Yes | An EPA database compiled from W.R. Grace shipping invoices contained no records indicating Libby ore was shipped to this site. However, this facility was listed as a vermiculite exfoliation plant in reports issued by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, and 1999. According to information gathered by EPA, J.P. Austin Associates, Inc. may have also operated under the name A-TOPS Vermiculite, which is a subsidiary of J.P. Austin, Inc. From the late 1960s through the 1970s, J.P. Austin exfoliated vermiculite ore at the site and sold it to the steel industry. At the time of EPA’s visit, J.P. Austin was still operating as an exfoliation facility and the majority of the vermiculite the company sold was used in swimming pool construction. Facility representatives interviewed at the time of EPA's visit said the company obtained vermiculite ore from mines in South Africa. EPA collected three soil samples and one air sample. The soil samples did not contain detectable levels of asbestos and the air sample contained one asbestos fiber, which is below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's exposure standard and below EPA's Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act standard. The soil sample was analyzed using polarized light microscopy (PLM) and the air sample was analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). On the basis of this information, EPA decided no further action was necessary. |
| GAO-09-6R |