Yes, TCE infected/polluted land and not just the Bishop Tube site. We’re all still talking about these sites. I always wonder why there seems to be so much still to clean up? I mean I get way back when none of us knew the environmental hazards people would face but is it just me or do others feel like these topics are discussed, but then not enough is ever cleaned up?
So I put up a post recently about the notice coming out about Bishop Tube clean-up.
It still remains a hot topic. WHYY (embedded below) and Philadelphia Inquirer (excerpt below):
by Frank Kummer
Updated Sep 28, 2022
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection plans an $8 million cleanup of the contaminated Bishop Tube site in Chester County — a focus of controversy for 10 years when a company controlled by developer Brian J. O’Neill purchased it to build housing.
Constitution Driver Partners LP, O’Neill’s company, did not cause the pollution, and the property was already on the DEP’s list of brownfields approved for reuse as long as they are cleaned to state standards.
Still, residents and environmental groups have opposed building on the vacant industrial site where a number of contaminants are present in the soil, water and air inside the old buildings. The main contaminant of concern is trichloroethylene (TCE), a colorless liquid that can cause headaches, dizziness, and sleepiness in moderate amounts, and coma and death in large amounts. It is also linked to heart, liver, and kidney problems as well as cancer.
TCE has been found in excess of state allowable levels and was widely used in the process of making steel tubing at the 13.7-acre site in Frazer, East Whiteland Township, starting in the 1950s.
Here is this decision from the PA DEP:
But why I am writing this post is I find it interesting that ANOTHER toxic site in East Whiteland also containing TCE from the OTHER side of the township is becoming a hot topic. Maybe I have been living under a rock, but I forgot this existed. It started with my seeing this on the East Whiteland website:
So here is a map of Chester County Superfund sites – these are EPA sites, it doesn’t include all the other toxic sites like PA DEP sites:
Here is the EPA website:
MALVERN TCE
MALVERN, PA
Announcements and Key Topics
Public Comment Opportunity
EPA has opened the public comment period regarding a proposed cleanup plan for the Malvern TCE Superfund Site. Community members and interested parties are encouraged to share comments between September 29 and October 28, 2022. More information on how to comment and about the proposed cleanup plan can be found below.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a
Continue reading announcements and key topics »
MALVERN TCE
MALVERN, PA Cleanup Activities
On this page:
- Background
- What Has Been Done to Clean Up the Site?
- What Is the Current Site Status?
- Activity and Use Limitations
On related pages:
Background
The Malvern Trichloroethene (TCE) Superfund Site, located in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, operated as a solvent reclamation facility from 1952 to 1992. The site is in a wooded area surrounded by residential and undeveloped areas bordering the property to the west, north and east. The site consists of a main plant area connected to a former disposal area by a narrow meadow corridor, and sources of contamination at the site are tied to these two areas.
A portion of the site is owned and operated by Chemclene Corporation that, until a fire in 1999, sold hydrogen peroxide and industrial cleaning solvents. These solvents were used by local industries for degreasing metal parts and for other cleaning purposes. Chemclene used a distillation process to remove impurities from the previously used solvents, which were then returned to customers for reuse or held in bulk storage for resale.
Prior to 1976, sludge from the distillation process was disposed in the wooded area, also known as the former disposal area. The former processing, chemical storage, and waste management practices at the property contaminated the soil and groundwater. Following the detection of soil and groundwater contamination in 1980, Chemclene took several measures to clean up the site from 1982 to 1987 with the oversight of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The site was added to EPA’s National Priorities List in September 1983.
As an operating hazardous waste facility, Chemclene signed a Corrective Action Order with EPA in 1989 to continue the cleanup. When the company failed to carry out the Order, the site was referred back to EPA’s Superfund program in November 1993. Since then, EPA has been overseeing the cleanup of the site.
SO….learn to take ahold of opportunities and attend the October 13th meeting. Especially if you live on that side of the township where it is located.
The EPA 30-Day Public Comment Period has officially begun for the “Malvern TCE Proposed Cleanup Plan.”
The EPA published a newspaper ad in the Daily Local News and also mailed out fact sheets with details about the plan and the upcoming public meeting. (Mind you I do not know who received said fact sheet, I have yet to see a mailed copy.) A digital copy of the fact sheet and full Proposed Cleanup Plan document can be found on the front page of the Site’s EPA Profile Page: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/malvern.
EPA will be hosting the public meeting on October 13, 2022 at 6:00 P.M. at the East Whiteland Township Building. I will note this seems to be the old ChemClene site. But people have an opportunity to speak up. They should take it. That site is actually pretty close to Great Valley High School among other things. I do not know that the meeting is being recorded, although it should be.
Again, This meeting I discovered is October 13, at the East Whiteland Township. As in this Thursday. 6 PM.
In closing, every time I hear about one of these things I ask the same question: how many toxic sites exist in Chester County? How toxic are parts of Chester County, really and do we want to know? How will the EPA treat parts of Chester County based on their recent “forever chemicals” coverage in the media? Will the PA DEP follow the EPA?
