Therm-O-Rock/Allied Block Chemicals Company, Inc., 1 Pine Street, New Eagle, 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 1 Pine Street, New Eagle, Pennsylvania Active exfoliation facility 475 Yes-September 19, 2000 Yes According to an EPA database compiled from W.R. Grace shipping invoices, 475 tons of vermiculite ore from the Libby mine were shipped to this site between October and December of 1982. Also, this facility was listed as a vermiculite exfoliation plant in a report issued by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1999. According to a company respresentative EPA interviewed, Allied Block merged with Therm-O-Rock, Inc. in December 1992. At the time of EPA’s site visit, Therm-O-Rock was an exfoliation facility that expanded and packaged vermiculite for sale. Vermiculite ore was received in bulk and shipped out in bags. A company official said the facility had been in operation since 1975 and the official did not remember receiving any vermiculite ore from the Libby mine. This official said Therm-O-Rock obtained its ore from mines in South Africa and South Carolina. EPA’s files for this site did not contain information regarding the specific locations and names of the companies that operated the mines. EPA collected three bulk/soil samples and one air sample. None of the samples contained detectable levels of asbestos. The bulk/soil samples were 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