SALEM — Cleanup has begun, in earnest, at the Universal Steel property on Bridge Street.
The Environmental Protection Agency is working to remove soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, so the property can be redeveloped. The project is expected to take three months.
The building on the 1.2-acre, city-owned site was demolished last month to make way for a 120-space municipal parking lot. The former Universal Steel and Trading Co. had been vacant for more than a decade.
Soil will be mounded into piles, tarped with plastic covers and eventually trucked off-site to a hazardous waste facility. Excavation workers will wear protective suits and masks.
PCBs have been demonstrated to cause cancer, as well as a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system and endocrine system, according to the EPA website.
Universal Steel ran a scrap metal and recycling plant that, among other items, handled fuel storage tanks and transformers.
Ex-Hit Man's Past Is a Shock to Some Neighbors
Fans: Gandofini 'Put New Jersey on the Map'
Does Future of Human Race Depend on Kansas Mine?
Reining in 'Bad News' Sports Parents
James Gandolfini Dies at Age 51
Fmr. TWA Flight 800 Investigators Want New Probe
Raw: Heat, Spurs Back on Court Ahead of Game 7
Dolce and Gabbana Convicted of Tax Evasion
Paris, Prince Depositions Used in Jackson Trial
Coiffed Cattle Get Their Close-up
In Berlin, Obama Channels Cold War Activism
Police at Patriots Tight End's Home for 2nd Day
Fed Suggests Bond Purchases Could Slow
AP: DOJ Broke Own Rules Seizing Phone Records
Raw: Baby White Rhino Debuts at Australian Zoo
Time Lapse: Rebuilding Bridge Post-collapse
Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
