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SUPERFUND BRIEFLY - A WEEKLY REPORT FOR PENNSYLVANIA

Release Date: 9/29/1998
Contact Information: Ruth Podems (215) 814-5540 September 29, 1998

EPA Completes Cleanups at Four Sites

OSBORNE LANDFILL SITE, Pine Township - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has completed cleanup construction activities at four sites in Pennsylvania on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) of the most hazardous sites in the nation. The sites include, in addition to the Osborne Landfill, the Westinghouse Elevator Plant Site, in Cumberland Township; Blosenski Landfill in Chester County; and North Penn 1 Site in Montgomery County.  Construction completion occurs when all physical construction has been completed at a site, all immediate hazardous waste threats are under control and all long-term threats have been addressed.

At the Osborne Landfill in Mercer County, a half mile east of Grove City, ground water and leachate (contaminated water that has run off from a landfill) were severely contaminated with heavy metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) from former waste disposal practices.  The soil contained heavy metals including arsenic and lead, VOCs and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and surface water was also contaminated with VOCs.  Wetlands and a swamp near the site were contaminated with very low levels of PCBs.  A leachate extraction and treatment system will continue operating until the water meets federal drinking water standards. Ground water monitoring will continue until a safe level is attained.  Background: Located on an abandoned strip mine in Pine Township, Osborne Landfill was used for waste disposal from the 1950s until 1978, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania closed it for accepting industrial wastes without a permit.  More than 500 drums had been left at the site; many were crushed, rusted or bulging.  Site contaminants in the fill included high levels of lead, benzene, trichloroethene, PCBs and carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons.  Nearby Grove City has approximately 8,100 residents.  Site ground water contained vinyl chloride, a very carcinogenic organic compound at more than 20 times the drinking water standard.  Municipal wells are within one mile of the site.  The property is surrounded by woods, wetlands, light residential development and farmland.

WESTINGHOUSE ELEVATOR PLANT SITE, Adams County, Cumberland Township -- Construction has been completed at this 85-acre site near historic Gettysburg.  The ground water extraction and treatment systems will continue operating until the water reaches federal drinking water standards.  EPA’s goal is to stop the contamination from spreading, however, the cleanup may take several decades because of oily solvents in fractured bedrock on the plant property.  The off-site ground water extraction is cleaning up much faster, and it may be possible to discontinue that treatment much sooner.  Background: The Westinghouse Elevator Co. Plant manufactured elevators that were processed through a paint and degreasing line that used chlorinated solvents.  Until 1980, the company used a local hauler to dispose of  waste solvents and sludges into drums.  In 1982, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources conducted an investigation that identified three contaminated sites in the Gettysburg area, including the Westinghouse plant.  Further studies found that about 20 private wells around the plant were also highly contaminated with trichloroethylene and trichloroethane, which were used as degreasing solvents in the elevator plant.  The population within three miles of the site is 13,500.  Adjacent to the plant are streams that flow into Rock Creek, used for irrigation and swimming.

BLOSENSKI LANDFILL, Chester County -- EPA cleaned up this severely contaminated landfill in Chester County and completed construction this week.  One of the most contaminated NPL sites in the nation, the Blosenski Landfill covers approximately eight acres of a 13 ½-acre site in West Caln Township.  From the 1940s to the 1970s, the site operated as a landfill for disposal of municipal and industrial wastes.  Solvents, paints, leaking drums and tank truck contents were randomly dumped into the unlined landfill.  In 1971, the Chester County Health Department ordered the landfill to stop operating.  The ground water, surface water, residential wells and soil in the area were contaminated with benzene, vinyl chloride, chloroform, and heavy metals.  Volatile organic compounds and heavy metals were detected in a tributary of Indian Spring Run, located 500 feet north of the property, that receives runoff from the Blosenski Landfill.  EPA cleaned up the site in four phases: 1) a water line was installed, providing drinking water to 75 residences in March 1990; 2) 1,300 buried drums containing hazardous wastes were excavated and disposed of in 1992 and 1995; 3) a pump and treat system was installed to clean up contaminated ground water; and 4) and a cap was placed over the landfill.  A ground water corrective system was completed in May 1998.  The 12 potentially responsible parties paid for most of the costs of the cleanup and construction.

NORTH PENN 1 SITE, Souderton, Montgomery County -- Construction was completed at two of the three facilities at this contaminated Montgomery County site.  Gentle Cleaners and Granite Knitting Mills both had high levels of perchloroethylene (PCE), a chemical used in dry cleaning, in the soil and ground water.  PCE was discovered in 1979 in a municipal well by the North Penn Water Authority, which was taken out of service immediately.  A well on the Granite Knitting Mills property was also contaminated with several volatile organic compounds, often found in solvents.  An estimated 75,000 people get their drinking water from public and private wells within three miles of the site.  Cleanup consisted of removing contaminated soils from the Gentle Cleaners and the Granite Knitting Mills Company, and putting an extraction system at the Granite Knitting Mills well.  The system consisted of an extraction pump and conveyance piping, with direct discharge to the sanitary sewer.  Parkside Apartments, the third facility, had lower levels of contamination and did not require cleanup.

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