Despite six decades of heavy steel fabrication, the Napa Pipe property is not the threatening stew of toxics that some might fear.

Records of the Regional Water Quality Control Board indicate that the 152-acre site has been thoroughly investigated and the toxic hot spots have largely been mitigated.

Since acquiring the plant in 1987, Napa Pipe's owners have been working to correct a host of environmental issues that carried over from Kaiser Steel days.

"Our goal was to have the plant cleaned up sufficiently so it could be sold," said Harold Halterman, a former Kaiser manager who did environmental cleanup work for Napa Pipe from 1987 to 1992.

Oregon Steel Mills bought the plant in 1987 knowing there was soil and water contamination. The low purchase price, $16 million, in part reflected anticipated costs for environmental remediation.

In the course of making thousands of miles of pipe and giant steel fabrications, the plant had used large amounts of welding flux, cleaning solutions and petroleum products.

For years the plant collected liquid waste in settling ponds. Solid waste had been used to fill in wetlands. There were underground tanks and pipes that had leaked oil.

Soil contaminated with gasoline, diesel fuel, various heavy metals and an assortment of volatile organic compounds dotted the property.

After a thorough site investigation, the Regional Board issued a clean-up order in 1990 that required Napa Pipe to eliminate the threat of these toxics to the Napa River and groundwater.

Fourteen years later, the site has been essentially cleaned up, board records show. The worst pockets of contamination have been excavated, then hauled away or treated on site.

Dozens of monitoring wells reveal that areas with remaining toxics are stable. The zones of contamination are not expanding.

"We believe there are no significant environmental issues in Napa," said Ray Adams, the chief financial officer for Oregon Steel.

If the property is ever proposed for new industrial or residential development, the regional water board would assess if these uses were compatible with the current level of site clean-up, said Ale Naugle, a board analyst.

Housing, where people are present around the clock, needs greater protection than does a steel operation where workers are presumed to accept a certain risk, Naugle said.