Amcast Industrial Corporation Site
Contact Information
Community Involvement Coordinator
Susan Pastor (pastor.susan@epa.gov)
312-353-1325 or 800-621-8431, ext. 31325
Remedial Project Manager
Scott Hansen (hansen.scott@epa.gov)
312-886-1999 or 800-621-8431, ext. 61999
Assistant Regional Counsel
Richard Nagle (nagle.richard@epa.gov)
312-353-8222 or 800-621-8431, ext. 38222
Wisconsin DNR State Project Manager
Margaret Brunette
(margaret.brunette@wisconsin.gov) 414-263-8557
Repositories
(where to view written records)
Cedarburg City Hall
W63
N645
Washington Ave.
Cedarburg, Wis.
Cedarburg Public Library
W63
N583 Hanover Ave.
Cedarburg, Wis.
Background
The Amcast Industrial Corp. site is in the historic city and township of Cedarburg (Ozaukee County) in southeastern Wisconsin in a suburban residential area north of Milwaukee. Amcast was a local automotive industry supplier on Hamilton Road in Cedarburg.
The company first declared bankruptcy in 2004 and then again in 2005. The entire site consists of the Amcast facility, sewers near the former plant, a retention pond southeast of Amcast, a pond in nearby Zeunert Park, and some private properties to the southeast.
Amcast had a plant that emptied PCBs into the creek via storm sewers. One of them emptied into Hamilton Pond, upstream of Green Bay Road. Due to heavy rains and high creek flow in 1996, the Hamilton Dam collapsed and was removed. The pond was drained leaving behind several acres of mud flats containing PCBs.
The sewers and soil under the building were sampled in November 2005. Since Amcast had filed for bankruptcy, its contractor was told to stop working and the results were never analyzed. Soil samples were also taken on private properties near the Amcast plant in summer 2005. Some of those samples showed PCB contamination slightly above what EPA considers to be safe levels.
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What are PCBs?
PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, are toxic chemicals that were once widely used as industrial coolants, insulators and lubricants. PCBs can concentrate in the environment and the food chain, resulting in health hazards to people, fish and wildlife. Because of these dangers, the U.S. government banned the manufacture of new PCBs in 1976. PCBs still in use are strictly regulated.
PCB Information
EPA's PCB home page
PCBs
and your health (WI DHFS)
Toxicological
profile for PCBs
Tox FAQs for
PCBs
Site Updates | News Releases |
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Site Updates
April 2009
The Amcast property investigation was being done as part of the Cedar Creek site. It came to a halt when the company filed for bankruptcy. EPA is committed to cleaning up Amcast and the surrounding areas, so they are being considered as one separate Superfund site. It has been included on a list of “proposed” sites. A notice explaining this approach can be found in the Federal Register. EPA’s Washington D.C. office is running a 60-day public comment period on the proposal. When this project is ready to move forward as a Superfund site, it will follow investigation processes similar to those at the Cedar Creek site.