River Road Landfill is a 102-acre inactive disposal site in Hermitage, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It accepted municipal and industrial waste from 1962 to 1986, including foundry waste, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, metal processing residue, and tank car cleaning residues. About 4,500 people live within one mile of the site. The current owner, Waste Management of Pennsylvania, Inc., purchased the site in 1980 and closed it in 1987 under a state-approved plan. The site was added to the federal Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989 and deleted from it in January 2004 after cleanup goals were met.
Contaminants are found in groundwater, surface water, sediment, and soil. Groundwater contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, vinyl chloride, and several forms of dichloroethane, along with metals including aluminum, barium, and manganese. Sediment and surface water hold a range of heavy metals, PCBs (specifically Aroclor 1248), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides including dieldrin and p,p'-DDD.
Cleanup work began in 1987 with closure activities that included capping the landfill, installing a leachate collection system and groundwater dam, controlling erosion, revegetating the area, and fencing the site. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Record of Decision (ROD) in December 1995 selecting continued operation and maintenance of these measures as the final remedy. A consent decree finalized in February 2000 added deed restrictions prohibiting groundwater well installation and soil excavation on the property. Construction of the cleanup was completed on December 29, 1995, with remedial action running from September 1999 through June 2000.
The 2024 Five-Year Review found the remedy continues to protect human health and the environment in the short term. The landfill is capped, contaminated groundwater is contained, the site is fenced, and institutional controls prevent groundwater use and residential construction. The review noted that surface water and sediment samples from the sedimentation basins and the adjacent Shenango River still need to be collected and analyzed as required by the ROD for long-term protection. EPA reviews groundwater monitoring data quarterly in coordination with the state. The next five-year review is scheduled for 2029.
Community members can review site records at the Community Library of the Shenango Valley in Sharon, Pennsylvania, or at the EPA Region III office in Philadelphia. Both locations require an appointment. For questions, residents can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager.
