The Shenango River flows quietly through Sharon, Pennsylvania. Its waters reflecting the leaves and sky like a placid mirror. But beneath the surface, it carries a far darker history—one tainted with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that once leaked into the ecosystem from the Westinghouse Electric Corporation’s transformer plant. For decades, these invisible toxins have settled in the riverbed, poisoning fish and wildlife, and threatening the health of those who live nearby. The toxic pollution, though unseen by the naked eye, remains a relentless and deadly presence.
A Toxic Legacy
At the heart of the contamination is polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a group of highly toxic chemicals once widely used in the production of electrical transformers. PCBs were long considered indispensable for their insulating properties but were later revealed to be persistent environmental pollutants, accumulating in soil, water, and the bodies of living organisms, including humans.
Westinghouse used PCBs at its Sharon plant from 1936 until 1976, and their impact has been catastrophic. Over the years, spills, leaks, and improper waste management practices led to widespread contamination of the plant’s surroundings, including the nearby Shenango River. The river, which winds through Sharon, became a conduit for pollutants, spreading contamination downstream and affecting aquatic life.
The plant was officially shuttered in 1984, but the damage had already been done. By the late 1990s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had listed the Westinghouse Sharon plant as a Superfund site, triggering a series of investigations and remediation efforts aimed at addressing the contamination.
Health and Ecological Damage
The contamination from the Westinghouse site is both an issue of corporate misconduct and a public health crisis. PCBs are known to cause cancer in animals and have been classified as probable human carcinogens. They are also linked to a range of other serious health problems, including immune system suppression, reproductive disorders, and developmental delays in children.
For the residents of Sharon, many of whom lived and worked near the plant, the contamination has left a palpable sense of unease. “We didn’t know what was happening back then,” says one lifelong Sharon resident. “The plant provided jobs, but we didn’t realize the cost we’d be paying for it.”
A Human Health Risk Assessment conducted by Westinghouse in 1998 identified unacceptable cancer and non-cancer risks for people exposed to contaminated soil, groundwater, and river sediments. The affected population includes those who may have come into contact with soil or water from the Shenango River, either through recreational activities or from eating contaminated fish.
The ecological toll has been equally devastating. Fish in the Shenango River, particularly smallmouth bass and carp, have shown elevated levels of PCBs. In 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) issued a “Do Not Eat” advisory for all fish species caught in the Shenango River between the Shenango Lake Dam and the river’s mouth due to PCB contamination. The toxins in the river not only impact fish but also the birds and mammals that rely on them as a food source, perpetuating the contamination throughout the ecosystem.
Economic and Social Costs
While the environmental and health consequences of the contamination are clear, the economic and social impacts on the local community are more nuanced but equally severe. The Westinghouse plant, which once employed many Sharon residents, is now a vacant eyesore. Portions of the site have been repurposed for industrial use, but much of the area remains undeveloped due to the ongoing remediation efforts.
For a town already struggling with the decline of the steel industry and the economic fallout of deindustrialization, the loss of Westinghouse has been a significant blow. Although jobs were provided during the plant’s operational years, the long-term economic damage caused by the contamination has overshadowed these short-term gains. The cleanup efforts, while necessary, have also come at a financial cost to local authorities and taxpayers, who are left footing part of the bill for a disaster they didn’t create.
Moreover, the stigma of living near a Superfund site has hurt property values in the area, making it difficult for residents to sell their homes or attract new businesses. “Who wants to buy property next to a PCB-contaminated river?” one local realtor laments. For many, the contamination has not only poisoned their environment but also trapped them in an economic quagmire.