The DEP removed 15,000 tons of asbestos-containing waste from the site in a $1 million project that began last September, the DEP said. In some places the waste extended as much as 15 feet below ground level, the DEP said.

"This cleanup puts to rest an environmental hazard that was a vestige of Pennsylvania’s industrial heritage," said Steven Beckman, DEP regional director.

Products containing asbestos were manufactured at the site and the waste disposed there until the early 1920s, when the facility closed and was abandoned. In recent years, the potential for asbestos exposure grew as off-road vehicles and other trespassers traveled the site, disturbing the waste pile, Beckman said.

At high levels of exposure, asbestos has been linked to respiratory disease and is a known human carcinogen, the DEP said.