History

Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation’s Newfield, NJ facility is located just off Route 40 on West Boulevard in Newfield, NJ. Situated 30 minutes from Philadelphia, the facility manufactured specialty steel and super alloy additives, primary aluminum master alloys, metal carbides, powdered metals and optical surfacing products at different time from 1955 until production ceased at the site in 2006.

Specialty glass manufacturing began at the site in 1924, long before Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation (SMC), one of the world’s foremost produc­ers and suppliers of metals and alloys, purchased the 60-acre property and its buildings in 1952. Iron alloy production facilities were added in 1955, a separate laboratory facility was built on the plant site in 1968, and aluminum alloy production facilities were added in 1972.

Raw materials used at the facility included naturally occurring ores that contained oxides of columbium (niobium), vanadium, aluminum metal, titanium metal, strontium metal, zirconium metal, and fluoride (titanium and boron) salts.  One of the raw materials received, used and stored at the site contains naturally occurring radioactivity and is therefore regulated by state and federal law. This material, called pyrochlore, is a concentrated columbium (niobium)-bearing ore that contains greater than 0.05% of natural uranium and thorium.