Plating Plant for Semitraile Parts sprouts Up in a… BROWNFIELD

Automotive Finishing, Winter, 2000 by Beverly A. Graves

Most investors shy away from brownfields because environmental laws assign liability to a broad range of parties, including the present owner. However, this didn't keep James McCall from purchasing Metal Plate Polishing, Inc. (MPP) in Fort Wayne, IN...

Brownfields are industrial or commercial property that is abandoned, inactive or underused on which expansion or redevelopment is complicated because of actual or even perceived environmental contamination. The property James McCall purchased in Ft. Wayne had been contaminated by a previous business, which had been a substantial plating shop in the 1980s. However, the site was a low-level contamination site that most likely would never be subject to a Superfund investigation and/or cleanup by EPA.

Mr. McCall purchased the shop in 1993 from Tri County Tube, a polishing company, which had already purchased the facility from the original plating company. Tri County Tube had started remediation in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and invested more than $100,000 in the cleanup. MPP invested an additional $50,000 to finish the job. Apparently, the original plating company transported plating chemistries between buildings, spilling solution containing zinc, nickel, chromium and cadmium. These solutions soaked into and contaminated the soil, rendering the site a brownfield.

"It was a fairly small section," noted Mr. McCall. "But, we wanted to finish the cleanup and make it right. We wanted to make a statement to the community that we cared. We also wanted to make sure our investment paid off."

Because Tri County Tube had already initiated clean up, several criteria of the Indiana brownfield redevelopment checklist had been met. Most of the planning stage elements were complete: site assessment; property inventory; identification of potential barriers; and determination of site assessment options. Once MPP purchased the site, however, two elements of the planning stage had to be repeated: identification of stakeholders and development of partnerships. MPP needed to reestablish a partnership with IDEM as the new property owner.

Cleanup involved several split samplings by IDEM and MPP's contractor, AVANT Group. Once the proximity and levels of contamination were established, approximately 400 cu yd of earth were removed. Samples were again taken, and new dirt was put over the area. MPP and IDEM finished the remediation project in 1996. It was the first voluntary brownfield cleanup project completed in Ft. Wayne and one of the first in Indiana.

In addition to the brownfield cleanup, MPP became, and still is, heavily involved in the Indiana Strategic Goals Program. Tom Maddux, the company's safety and environmental manager, heads up the program. "We are one of eight charter members of the Indiana Strategic Goals Program. We have quarterly meetings, and we have organized different groups within the program, such as RCRA and the funding group."

Mr. Maddux's involvement has completely changed how he looks at wastewater treatment and plant management. He looks at ways to improve processes and plant operations always with an eye toward the environment and safety. "Although the goals are national, each company was able to set up its own program for achieving the goals," added Mr. Maddux.

MPP's goals for the year 2002 include the following: 1) 90% reduction in organic toxic release inventory emissions; 2) 50% reduction in metal emissions to air and water; 3) 50% reduction in hazardous sludge; 4) 25% reduction in energy use; and 5) 50% reduction in water use. The company has added flow restrictors to cut water use. By treating and recycling its spent acids and cleaners in-house, it has saved approximately $75,000 a year. Moreover, MPP currently is looking into ways to recover nickel from the nickel-chromium plating line used to plate exhaust systems for semitrailers.

The nickel-chromium plating is a first class system. Mr. McCall and his partner invested $750,000 in the plating line to complement the polishing and buffing shop already occupying 4,000 sq ft of the 26,000-sq-ft site. Chris Hernandez maintains the plating chemistry supplied by Benchmark, Inc. and Lee Biddle supervises and runs the plating line where each day approximately 800-1,000 exhaust tubes for tractor-trailers are plated with nickel and trivalent chromium for end users such as Kenworth, Freightliner, Navistar, Peterbilt, Mack and Donaldson.

The soak cleaner is an alkaline powdered soak cleaner used to remove buffing compounds and oil from the tubular steel parts. The cleaner is used at a concentration of 6-12 oz/gal at 180F with air/mechanical agitation.

The electrocleaner on the line helps to wet out the inside of the tubular parts. It is used at a concentration of 8-12 oz/gal at a temperature of 180F.

The semi-bright nickel process, Locplate NPS, deposits a ductile, sulfur-free semi-bright nickel. It is applied at two thirds non-sulfur semi-bright nickel to one-third bright nickel. The absence of sulfur maintains lower electronegative potential than the bright layer, providing maximum protection for the steel base metal.