Magna Metals is a former metal plating, polishing, and lacquering facility in Cortlandt Manor, Westchester County, New York. It was added to the EPA's National Priorities List as a final designation on May 15, 2019. The site is being addressed as a single operable unit covering the entire property.
The facility operated from 1955 to 1979, discharging iron, lead, copper, nickel, zinc chlorides, cyanides, and sulfates into leaching pits on site. Those discharges contaminated the soil and groundwater at the property, as well as sediment and water in nearby Furnace Brook, which runs through about 1.5 miles of freshwater wetland. Residential properties next to the brook have contaminated soil, and some homes sit near contaminated sediment in the brook itself.
New York State investigated the contamination and took early mitigation steps. Those steps included installing a gas venting system in the occupied office and warehouse building that now sits on the former plant property. The original plant was demolished in 2013. Affected residents have received their soil sample results along with guidance on lowering short-term exposure risks. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation supports the site's listing in the federal Superfund program.
EPA completed a combined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study, running from September 2018 through September 2022, and finalized an Administrative Order of Consent on September 28, 2022. EPA oversight of the study is expected to continue through late 2028, with a Record of Decision planned during that same window. Remedial action has not yet started. Human exposure and groundwater migration have not been confirmed as controlled, because there is not yet enough data to make those assessments. Construction of the cleanup is not complete, and the site has not reached construction completion or deletion from the National Priorities List.
Community members with questions can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager directly. The EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Program is also working with the community to support the eventual return of the site to productive use.
