Pacific Ordnance Steel Fountry No Department of ... - Corpsfuds.org

FINDING OF
NO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ACTIONS INDICATED
1. SITE NAME: Pacific Ordnance Steel Foundry
FORMERLY USED DEFENSE SITE PROJECT NUMBER: J09CA089400
LOCATION:
City: 1 mile east of Pittsburg
County: Contra Costa
State: California
2. POINTS OF CONTACT:
Property owners at the time of the site visit:
United States Steel Corporation
US. Army Corps of Engineers:
Gerald E. Vincent
FUDS Program Manager
U.S. Army Engineer District, Sacramento Corps of Engineers
(9 16) 557-7452
Gerald.E.Vincent@usace.army.mil
State of California:
Anthony Landis
Chief of Northern California Operations
Office of Military Facilities
Department of Toxic Substances Control, State of California
(916) 255-3565
TLandis@dtsc.ca.gov
3. SITE DESCRIPTION:
The site is in Contra Costa County, approximately one mile east of the city limits of
Pittsburg, California. It is located at 150 1 Loveridge Road at the northeast corner of
Loveridge Road and the Antioch Pittsburg Highway. The site is approximately 35 miles
northeast of Oakland, California. It occupies 42.98 acres of Section 15 in Township 2
North, Range 1 East, M.D.B. & M. Tlie main portion of the property is at N 38°00'53.0"
Latitude, and W 121'5 1'16.6" Longitude. The Pacific Ordnance Steel Foundry site is
located in the 10"' U.S. Congressional District in California, and in Region IX of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
During site visits in 1986 and 2003, The Pacific Ordnance Steel Foundry site was in use
as an industrial park with building and yard space leased out to a variety of businesses. A
few structures.present during Department of Defense (DOD) use of the site still exist.
These include the foundry buildings and a storage building. These structures have been
utilized by site owners and tenants since DOD disposal of the site. A 1.679-acre parcel of

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the site remains under government ownership under the jurisdiction of the Department of
the Navy for use as an X-ray, radiography facility.
4. SITE HISTORY:
The 42.98-acre site was acquired in 1942 for construction of the Columbia Steel Foundry.
The foundry cast armored stern sections for use in the wartirne sl~ipbuilding industry.
Both the Oakland Naval Weapons Station and Mare Island are close by. The plant was
declared surplus in 1946 and transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA).
In 1949 the name was changed to the Pacific Ordnance Steel Foundry when the GSA
transferred the plant to the Department of the Army for retention in the Departmental
Industrial Reserve. In 1953, the plant was completely refurbished and equipped for the
manufacture of 14-ton tank hull casings together with turret. The property was sold on 14
August 1963 to QUAMCO, Inc., an Ohio corporation. Therle were no restrictions or
reservations in the deed. A 1.679-acre parcel was excluded from this transaction, to
remain under government ownership under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy
for use as an X-ray, radiography facility. On 3 September 1963, the property, consisting
of 41.3 acres of land, was transferred from Ludlow Valve Manufacturing Company, Inc.,
a New York based corporation, to United States Steel Corporation who is the present
owner. Subsequent to that transfer, the facility was used for the manufacture of steel
products including steel pipe. Steel manufacturing operations have ceased and the facility
is now an industrial park with building and yard space leased out to a variety of
businesses.
5. SITE INVESTIGATIONSICURRENT STATUS:
The Pacific Ordnance Steel Foundry site was first visited on, 12 May 1986. The
following environmental-related items were reported by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
inspectors:
The main foundry building is constructed with asbestos-cement (transite) siding. The
building was in use and maintained.
24 forty-year old transformers containing PCBs were on the property. The
transformers were in use and maintained.
Two USTs, one for gasoline and one for diesel fuel, were on the property. U.S. Steel
had recently used these tanks.
The building labeled "Radium Storage" dates from WWII, but there was no evidence
of contamination at that location.
Industrial waste disposal lagoons and pits on a parcel adjacent to the site were
monitored for groundwater contamination, with negative results.
As described above, subsequent property owners and tenants have made beneficial use of
the site facilities, some of which are DOD improvements. The government-owned X-ray,
radiography facility located on the site was used to inspect welds and castings on
products produced at the adjoining foundry. The facility was being maintained, but not
used at the time of inspection.
On 3 June 2003, a second site visit was conducted to verify current conditions and to
identify any evidence of past DOD activity or hazards not r~eported previously. The site
is located in the northeast part of Pittsburg, California, in a very industrial section. Some
of the buildings known to be on the site in 1963 do not appear to exist, but the majority of
the construction is still present. The front and most of the rest of the site are completely

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paved. The ground and some paved areas contain rusty metall debris and machinery. The
foundry building is subdivided into several metal fabricators and other businesses. A
very prominent sign indicates the name of the tenant compan,y occupying each segment
of the foundry building and the other buildings on the propenty. The area adjacent to
Loveridge Road is occupied by a vehicle auction business and many cars are parked
within a chain-link fence enclosure.
No signs of underground storage tanks, monitoring wells, or associated pipes were noted
on the property. No aboveground tanks were located outside of buildings, and no
staining on ground, pavement or soil was seen. No current environmental media testing
was available for this facility. State agencies contacted during the current review did not
have inspection reports for this site.
The fence line in the back separates another section of property at the rear that is fenced
separately and not accessible. There is an old brick building in this area and a lot of
medium high dry grass and shrubbery surrounding the building. The area appears not to
be in use. According to the location diagram in the front, this area is listed as the Navy's
property for the X-ray facility.
There was no evidence of hazardous or toxic waste, waste ordnance, or hazardous
building debris as a result of DOD use of the site. Rusty metal debris and machinery at
the site are due to operations of the current owners and tenants.
6. NDAI RECOMMENDATION:
This site is recommended for No Department of Defense Actions Indicated. During the
records research, interviews, and site inspections conducted related to this site, there were
no hazards or potential environmental liabilities noted from the past use of the site by the
Department of Defense for which the Department of Defense would be responsible. No
evident hazards were found during the site visit; therefore, no projects are recommended
at this site.
7. NDAI CONCURRENCE:
Department of Toxic Substances Control
Sacramento Corps of Engineers State of California