Cambria Contracting's Steel Resolve

Once upon a time, in a bustling community along the Niagara River sat a massive 10 acre steel fabricating facility.  But, as these factories are apt to do, time had come for the building to be demolished, and as possible environmental hazard it was important to bring in a company capable of doing the job correctly.  After bids and interviews, it was decided that Cambria Contracting was the right one for the job, and as the following paragraphs will reveal, the only choice to make.

The Roblin Steel Plant was once a fixture of the steel industry in Buffalo along with Bethlehem Steel and a few other companies.  This particular site was the gem of the Roblin factories and contained every facet of a fully-operational steel plant.  As such, there was much to be done if this site were to reach Brownfield regulatory standards.  By choosing Cambria Contracting, local government could rest easy.

This site, as with any old steel facility, touched upon nearly every specialty that Cambria Contracting has.  First the project held several pumps, sumps and quenching ponds.  The pumping units all have caulks and industrial greases which require special containment practices to ensure proper disposal.  One of the main concerns about projects like this is ensuring that these substances do not enter the surrounding habitat.  Contamination becomes next to impossible if removal is done correctly and keeps the two apart.  Quenching ponds are a bit more difficult as they are often outside and count on evaporation to ensure safe disposal.  But when time comes to remove the pond itself it has to be done carefully and ensure the pond is able to remain out of contact with the environment.  Cambria Contracting recognizes this and was able to keep this separation in place during the process.

Despite their success with these options, Cambria Contracting was still required to remediate contaminated soil throughout the complex This was done after the removal of all the buildings the complex consisted of.  The site was also filtered and dewatered to help in the remediation.

The final step was what to do with the thousands of tons of concrete that was left over from the demolition of the complex's buildings.  Any metals were salvage and all of the concrete that wasn't contaminated was crushed in order to be used as clean fill in other situations.

Better Know the EPA with Cambria Contracting

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is a young Federal administrative body tasked with enforcing the nation's laws in regards to environmental duties. Established December 2^nd, 1970 in order to consolidate all the nation's federal research, monitoring, standard-setting, and enforcement activities to ensure a safe environment for all living creatures. As a major demolition contractor Cambria Contracting often finds itself working to adhere to EPA guidelines and policies. As such we thought it would be a good idea to begin describing the agency behind most of our environmental remediation efforts.

Currently, the EPA is led by administrator Lisa P. Jackson. Appointed on December 15^th, 2008 she became the first person of African American descent to serve as EPA administrator. She oversees the twelve sub-departments of the EPA. She began her environmental career with an appointment in New Jersey by then Governor Jeff Corzine.

Cambria Contracting's dealings with the EPA are usually in regards to making sure all levels of hazardous materials are well within safe parameters at ever job site they are leaving. A lot of the industrial sites which Cambria Contracting works with can often house particles and liquids which can be found to be hazardous once they are disassembled from the casings they were housed in during operation. The EPA can audit a site, but typically the use of approved testing methods is enough to comply. The EPA compliance concerns every possible form of pollution and is incredibly thorough. From radiation to water tables the EPA insists that businesses ensure that when vacating a site that the environment is restored as well.

Cambria Contracting is proud to state that they have never had an issue with the EPA on any of it's industrial sites. It is this dedication to being the best that has allowed Cambria Contracting to rise to the top of this industry as the premier industrial demolition expert in North America.

Cambria Contracting Destroys Vesuvius

Cambria Contracting took on Vesuvius, and they won!

No not the mountain in Italy, but the Mineral Procession Mega-Company. In Buffalo, NY there once resides a 145,000 square foot carbon plant. The decommissioning and demolition of which, was not set to be a quick process. Knowing that they required the very best in the industry, Cambria Contracting was the obvious choice.

The word's Carbon Plant do not really call to mind the extreme hazards that were present in this facility. I mean I am made of Carbon, and we use carbon dating on fossils, and Carbon really never gets in trouble unless two of those no-good oxygens are around (CO2 for those still reading). Carbon Plants are foundries used to create dies for various iron castings. Usually they involve reactors which must be clear of any and all extemporaneous gases.

The Vesuvius project which Cambria Contracting took on was no small task. As with most of the undertakings listed on this blog, this project involved sophisticated remediation as well as delicate removal and salvage of series of industrial equipment.
The first step was to dismantle and remove several of the blast kilns that had been used to create the castings. There was also several tons of milling machinery left in the facility as well. While this did not require the intricate dismantling that the blast kilns did, they still retained significant salvage value. As such Cambria Contracting was careful to ensure their removal was thorough and safe. By being able to safely dismantle and salvage, if not outright re-use, was able to save Vesuvius over $100,000. The intricacies of these steps and the success of the process in general are at the very core of what makes Cambria Contracting so successful. By having the training, experience, and knowledge to successfully remove large caliber industrial furnaces and equipment, Cambria Contracting proves time and again why it is the continent's best demolition firm.

Once, the salvage portion of the demolition was out of the way, the next step was to begin a process of asbestos abatement. As outlined in previous posts, this process is fairly tedious and begins by sealing off the entire afflicted area. With a facility that encompasses 145,000 square feet this is no easy task. Cambria Contracting handles it with ease, however, and from there was able to begin removing the dangerous material. Once again demonstrating Cambria Contracting's superior expertise.
From this point forward it was relatively simple to finish the demolition as the rest of the waste Cambria Contracting dealt with is labeled as universal waste. This includes much more traditional waste such as ballasts, light bulbs, instrument panels and even mercury switches if you can believe it.
Cambria Contracting had no trouble handling this mountain of a task and successfully did so. They remain the finest Industrial Demolition Contractor in North America.

Cambria Contracting and the Electric Operations Center

On its way to becoming North America's premiere demolition contractor, Cambria Contracting has taken many demolition projects and made them impressive successes. As part of our ongoing blog series giving in-depth perspective to Cambria Contracting's past projects we invite you to come with us as we relive the great memories we have of the Rochester Gas and Electric Operations Center.

A sprawling 250,000 square foot, multi-story concrete and steel operation center, this particular project had it all. For starter's the building was filled with asbestos products, a Cambria Contracting specialty. There was asbestos in the pipes, caulking, mastic, floor tile, the roofing and even the vessel coverings. Normally, that laundry list of asbestos contaminant would leave lesser companies heading for the hills. However, the list for Cambria Contracting was just beginning.

Adding on to the miles of asbestos abatement needed, the plant had also compromised the materials of the structure as well as some of the surrounding soils. This PCB remediation was not limited to just soil and concrete alone, but transformers, oils, instrumentation controls, mercury switches, universal waste lights, bulbs, and ballast tanks as well. This process was time consuming and certainly required the expertise of Cambria Contracting, but it was not anything beyond the scope of possibilities.

After all of the hazardous had been disposed of properly, Cambria Contracting still had the monumental task of actually taking down the structure. This took months and required almost all of the industrial equipment Cambria Contracting owns. However, at the end of the project the DEC came in and gave Cambria Contracting the ok, and the Rochest Gas and Electric Operations Center was no more.

Cambria Contracting Rolls Away with a Rolling Mill

Whether you know it or not rolling mills probably play a big role in your life.  Rolling mills are industrial complexes where metals are flattened between to rollers, or in some cases turned into wires.  From aluminum foil to the steel that makes up your car, you have likely come into contact with a product that was at one point inside a rolling mill.

As any EPA intern worth his testing vials can tell you, these mills also have harmful chemicals on hand as part of the waste that comes from the creation of any pure metal.  As such the decommissioning and eventual demolition of a rolling mill requires significant testing and experience to mitigate the existing environmental threat. Cambria Contracting Inc. is capable of handling all of these steps.

Let's take Cambria Contracting's experience with an asset reduction plant in Hannibal, Ohio.  A daunting 800,000 sq. ft. compound, this reduction facility had it all.  Traditional concrete, asbestos in almost everything, tons of universal waste, mercury, and hazardous waste such as oils, grease and soot residue.  This plant had long stood on the outskirts of Hannibal OH and many archaic building materials used at its inception now required the specialties that Cambria Contracting offered.

The first part of Cambria Contracting's task was to decommission and demolish the casting house.  Decommissioning took time as the asbestos abatement had to remove the pipe insulation, caulk, mastic and other debris in a special containment room which captures the asbestos fibers in a safe room.  After that the casting house was ready to be torn down.  Using Cambria Contracting's heavy machinery this was done quickly.

The next phase of the project involved significant amounts of environmental remediation.  Cambria Contracting was able to handle all of the oils, grease and residues left over.  All inline with EPA specifications.

Cambria Contracting has many projects like this in its history and is proud of the continued great work we do.