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EPA Completes Cleanup at Millcreek Superfund Site

Release Date: 11/6/2001
Contact Information: David Sternberg, (215) 814-5548

David Sternberg, (215) 814-5548

MILLCREEK, Pa. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has completed cleanup construction at the Millcreek Dump Superfund site in Erie County, marking an important milestone in returning this once highly toxic waste site to beneficial reuse.

The site is being turned into a public nine-hole golf course and an eight-acre wetland which has already started to attract wildlife. The golf course will open next spring.

Construction completion means all physical construction has been completed and no human health or environmental threats remain.

“Not only does this Superfund site no longer pose a threat to residents of Erie County, but it is being turned into lush green space with scenic views and wildlife,” said Donald S. Welsh, regional administrator for the agency’s mid-Atlantic region. “Where there was once contaminated soil, now stands a nine-hole golf course. This property is being returned to productive use that the community can benefit from.”

Welsh made his remarks today at an event celebrating the completion of the cleanup and the future opening of the golf course on the site of the former Millcreek Dump.

From 1941 to 1981, the site was operated as an unpermitted active landfill for industrial and municipal waste. Contaminants found at the site included, phenols, volatile organic compounds, traces of PCBs, and heavy metals such as lead and copper.

In 1981 the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources closed the landfill. Starting in 1983, EPA performed an emergency response action which included fencing the site, demolishing sheds, removing 75 drums containing hazardous liquids, and removing and recycling clean empty drums. EPA placed the site on its National Priorities List of most toxic waste sites in 1984, making it eligible for federal cleanup funds.

The cleanup included excavation of highly contaminated soil and sediments; installation of a soil cover over soils containing lower levels of contamination to prevent runoff; installation of additional monitoring wells; construction of a flood retention basin; and the creation of a groundwater treatment system, which included the construction of the Millcreek Treatment Plant.

Now that all the immediate and long-term environmental and human health threats have been removed from the site, EPA will continue to monitor its progress. A five-year review will take place to ensure that the cleanup remedy continues to be protective.