FREEPORT — Steam billowed from the large piles of finely crushed steel Wednesday night at Freeport Terminals as a bulldozer, with its front loader down, moved forward and backward, flattening the mounds. The haze, carrying a strong and sometimes overpowering odor that resembled vehicle brakes grinding together, moved across the grounds and upward, engulfing High, Franklin and Washington streets and the residents who live there. The stench made breathing difficult for some and was enough to cause more than a few residents to feel ill. Countless others reached for eye drops to sooth irritation caused by the haze. Such fumes emanating from the terminal operations are not uncommon, as Mayor Bob Ravotti and members of the borough council received complaints 18 times last year alone. Wednesday’s complaints, according to Ravotti, were the last straw. He, members of council, Freeport firefighters and police, and a representative from the state Department of Environmental Protection converged at the site about 8:30 p.m. and began plotting how to solve the problem once and for all. DEP spokesman Mark Gorog said he was unsure whether the fumes contained any harmful ingredients, but said that an analysis provided by Freeport Terminals for a new crushing system — which isn’t yet in use — showed no unsafe materials on the steel. This particular site at Freeport Terminals crushes and mixes scrap metals left at machine shops across the region as far away as Erie, Councilman Gary Risch Jr. said. Metal cut at those shops contains an oil substance to make cutting easier. The process of crushing and mixing the scrap metal heats it, Risch and Ravotti said. When it rains or is cool and damp, as has been the case recently in the region, the scrap loses heat and emits this odor-filled fog, they said. “I’m making a request to get this site shut down,” Ravotti said. “We’ve been trying to be a good neighbor. But enough is enough.” Ravotti said he was told spreading the piles of scrap, which is used by Allegheny Ludlum to make steel, would help alleviate the stench. But that didn’t appear to be the case Wednesday. “It looks,” Risch said, “like it’s making it worse.” Risch, Ravotti, Gorog, council President James Seagriff and Councilman James Swartz were waiting, and hoping, to talk with Al Rupert, a terminal supervisor. Rupert was on site briefly. But when asked by a reporter what the company could do to lighten the endless waves of fumes and whether they were harmful, Rupert left. Officials said they didn’t believe the problem could be rectified overnight but were hopeful they could minimize the effects of the odors. And they planned to hold accountable those who are responsible. “They can’t have odors off site,” Gorog said. “They’re responsible for anything that leaves this site.” Rob Amen is a reporter for the Valley News Dispatch, Tarentum, and can be reached at ramen@tribweb.com.

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