Re: Hercules Powder tankcar et al.
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SUVCWORR@...
Elden,
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Try these for September 1956 aerial photo of the area. It may help. You can download a higher resolution photograph from www.pennpilot.psu.edu select the era from the drop down box and then the name of the location. Click on the red dot closest to the area you want to view. You will have the option to download the photos at three different resolutions or just click on the thumbnail for the default. Rich Orr http://data.cei.psu.edu/pennpilot/era1960/allegheny_1956/allegheny_1956_photos_jpg_200/allegheny_092156_aps_2r_143.jpg
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From: Gatwood, Elden J SAD <elden.j.gatwood@...> To: STMFC@... Sent: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 7:28 am Subject: RE: [STMFC] Hercules Powder tankcar et al. Rich; Thanks for the info. It is no coincidence that those contaminants are also by-products of coking, too, and that benzol, naptha, xylol and such were products at USS Clairton. I understand from talking to someone at EPA that the West Elizabeth site was not only the dump for the Clairton plant, but that they dumped huge amounts of waste there such that the groundwater beneath and downslope was contaminated very badly. That being said, it seems the remediation has been largely successful. Someone told me PICCOP hauled that waste cake off-site in dump trucks; however, PICCO also had a small siding and fenced-in area in West Elizabeth that I at one time had an aerial photo of, where it appeared they dumped used equipment and such. I can't find any record of it in older PRR records, so I have no idea how long it was in service, but I would guess PICCO could load up old equipment in a gon or box car and take it up the Mon to that site to dump. I wish I could find that photo! Elden Gatwood Elden: Hercules bought PICCO in 1973 well after the time frame of this list. If the waste from the plant gives you any hint of activities, they buried 85,000 tons of hazardous waste in Jefferson Borough. The site is on the National Priority List. Items disposed were benzene, styrene, naphthalene, lead, clay polycake and dechlor polycake from resin filters. These wastes were generated by PICCO at the Clariton plant from 1950 - mid 1980's (covers time frame for list) Rich Orr -----Original Message----- From: Gatwood, Elden J SAD <elden.j.gatwood@... <mailto:elden.j.gatwood%40usace.army.mil> > To: STMFC@... <mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tue, Jul 20, 2010 11:31 am Subject: RE: [STMFC] Hercules Powder tankcar et al. Kurt; Do you know anything about Hercules involvement in Pennsylvania Industrial Chemical Co. (PICCO)? They were a big producer of resins, and I think someone told me Hercules bought them. They had patents to stuff like Piccolastic and such. PICCO received tank car loads of petroleum, at their Clairton, PA plant, then processed to produce these resins, some of which were used in the rubber industry. I have always wanted to know more details about that operation as it pertains to freight car traffic, particularly. Elden Gatwood -----Original Message----- From: STMFC@... <mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:STMFC@... <mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Kurt Laughlin Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 8:52 PM To: STMFC@... <mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [STMFC] Hercules Powder tankcar et al. I used to work for Hercules. They were formed around 1905 by the break-up of DuPont's monopoly on explosives. They made gunpowder, blasting powder, dynamite and other explosives. During WW II they operated several explosive/ammunition plants for the Government. After the war they became involved in the rocket industry and were still making them until they were sold/spun-off/bought out by Alliant TechSystems post-1989. They also had large industrial chemical and plastics businesses. I think now they just make specialty chemicals. . . . And further looking finds this article mentiong some business areas and chemicals: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Hercules-Inc-Company-History .html KL ----- Original Message ----- From: Gatwood, Elden J SAD I had done some research on Hercules Powder and predecessors some time ago, and had only been able to find out info that they made industrial solvents and resins, most or all of which was shipped in either 103's or 104's. I am unaware of any pressurized tanks they had painted, or products that would have required same. Some of the other cars are also painted as liquid chlorine cars, whioch was also not shipped in big 105's, AFAIK. ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links http://groups.yahoo.com/group/STMFC/ Individual Email | Traditional http://groups.yahoo.com/group/STMFC/join (Yahoo! ID required) STMFC-digest@... <mailto:STMFC-digest%40yahoogroups.com> STMFC-fullfeatured@... <mailto:STMFC-fullfeatured%40yahoogroups.com> STMFC-unsubscribe@... <mailto:STMFC-unsubscribe%40yahoogroups.com> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links http://groups.yahoo.com/group/STMFC/ Individual Email | Traditional http://groups.yahoo.com/group/STMFC/join (Yahoo! ID required) STMFC-digest@... STMFC-fullfeatured@... STMFC-unsubscribe@... http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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