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EPA to begin removing contaminated soil from Montgomery County Superfund site

Release Date: 01/09/2009
Contact Information: Roy Seneca [email protected] (215)814-5567

PHILADELPHIA (January 9, 2009) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will begin excavating contaminated soil next week from the North Penn Area 7 Superfund Site in Upper Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, Pa.

The cleanup work entails using heavy construction equipment to remove about 2,800 cubic yards of contaminated soil on about 1.1 acres at the Spra-Fin Facility on Wissahickon Avenue. Clean backfill will then be placed on the site and graded.

The North Penn Area 7 site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989 for contamination of soil and groundwater by chlorinated solvents including trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE), carbon tetrachloride, methylene chloride (MC), and vinyl chloride (VC).

The property was used as a warehouse for paper products prior to 1963. From 1963 through 2004 the property was operated as the Spra-Fin Facility which was an active metal finishing facility that used and stored TCE on-site primarily for degreasing metal products.

Initial cleanup work was conducted in the 1980s to remove an underground TCE storage tank and about 60 cubic yards of heavily-contaminated soil. Following the excavation, an underground drainage system was installed in the excavation pit, and groundwater was collected by perforated pipes which ultimately discharged to the sanitary sewer system. The excavation beginning next week is part of the cleanup plan developed after a 2003 remedial investigation.

Work is expected to start the week of Jan. 12 and continue through the end of March 2009. More information on the site is available at: https://cfpub.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0300629 .