In March 1996, EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) conducted an inspection of the Site and discovered, among other things, deteriorating drums of hazardous substances at the Site, as well as radiological contamination that was generated at the Site during the 1940s and 1950s, when uranium and thorium rolling mill operations were conducted there under a contract and subcontract with the former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). EPA completed the removal of non-radioactive hazardous substances from the Site in June 1997. EPA's removal action did not address the radiological contamination at the Site (except for certain mixed radioactive and hazardous wastes). Instead, NYSDEC took the lead on addressing the radiological contamination with the U.S. Department of Energy, the successor agency to the AEC for purposes of the radiological contamination.
GSSC and its parent company, Guterl Steel Corporation, filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 (reorganization) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in 1982. The two cases were converted to Chapter 7 (liquidation) cases in 1990, and were consolidated in 1995. When GSSC's bankruptcy petition was filed, the company's real and personal property (consisting primarily of the GSSC facility and associated machinery and equipment) were subject to a mortgage and security interest of approximately $8.5 million in favor of Marine Midland Bank, which was guaranteed by the Economic Development Administration