Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty this week honored Wirerope Works Inc. in Lycoming County for a project that eliminated 100 percent of the company’s lead emissions.

The project has helped the company reduce its hazardous waste disposal costs while saving as much as $50,000 in annual maintenance costs.

Wirerope Works manufactures a complete line of Bethlehem Wirerope for a wide variety of uses, including elevators, ocean cables, oil fields, ski resorts, and the mining and logging industries.

The traditional production method used in this industry to produce high-quality wire rope is the double-lead patenting process, which creates numerous environmental issues.

In early 2004, Wirerope enrolled in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Partnership for Environmental Priorities and made a commitment to reduce its lead emissions from 27,000 pounds annually to zero.

This goal was achieved through several different equipment changes, including the use of a direct-fired furnace with a molten salt bath cooling, a transfer hood and a salt rinse system. Company engineers also redesigned the quench tank and improved the furnace burner system.

Besides eliminating 27,000 pounds of lead pollution annually, Wirerope Works also recycled more than 80,000 pounds of lead that was used in the old process, which helped fund the conversion.

The new process has reduced maintenance costs by more than $50,000 annually, and the economic payback was less than two years.

For more information, visit the 2005 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence webpage.

NewsClip: Wirerope Works Earns Award for Going Lead-Free

6/9/2006