EPA RCRA ID: PAD000731026
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. Corrective action is a requirement under RCRA that facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes, or did so in the past, investigate and clean up hazardous releases into soil, groundwater, surface water and air. For more information, and for more information on RCRA-specific terms used on this page, please visit EPA’s umbrella RCRA web page or EPA’s RCRA Corrective Action page.
On this page:
- Cleanup Activities
- Facility Description
- Institutional/Engineering Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Activities
The Exelon Corp. (formerly Philadelphia Electric Company) Facility in Chester, Pennsylvania is a 90-acre site located along the Delaware waterfront in Chester, Pennsylvania. Of the 90 acres, the seventeen acres that were once leased to a former resin manufacturing plant and hazardous waste recycler were investigated and remediated under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action Program. This parcel of land was heavily contaminated and required extensive investigation and remediation. The remaining 73 acres, which were less contaminated and were prime for redevelopment, were addressed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) under the Consent Order and Agreement with the Pennsylvania’s Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act (“Act 2"). The PADEP Act 2 program enabled Exelon to expeditiously address and remediate the less contaminated areas to facilitate the redevelopment the property.
Under the direction of the EPA RCRA Corrective Action Program, contaminated surface soils were excavated and disposed offsite. The excavated areas were backfilled and capped with topsoil and/or gravel. In addition, Exelon installed a shoreline remediation system that consisted of a groundwater extraction well system and a groundwater collection trench along the Delaware River to recover free product and to prevent petroleum sheens from forming on the river surface. Several monitoring wells were installed to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the remediation. Exelon continues to operate and maintain the groundwater remediation system. Institutional controls are in place that prohibit groundwater use and restrict any future use of the site that would adversely affect the effectiveness of the remediation or compromise the protection of human health and environment.
The remaining 73 acres were addressed under the PADEP Act 2 Program. Exelon excavated impacted soil and backfilled these areas with topsoil and/or gravel. Certain areas were also lined with a geo-textile cap prior to the backfilling. The former coal-fired power plant was converted into a high-tech office building. The remediation was completed to site-specific and background standards for nonresidential use. As stated in the PADEP Consent Order and Agreement, any future redevelopment that will change the nonresidential use of the property to residential use must be remediated to the Pennsylvania Statewide Health residential standards.
Since the completion of the investigation and the implementation of the corrective action remedy, the former power plant was redeveloped into a premier office building, a new soccer stadium was constructed, and a large portion of the site was converted to a sports complex that includes multiple outdoor soccer fields and an indoor field facility. The stadium and sports complex are home to the Philadelphia Union soccer team.
On September 6, 2022, the EPA conducted a Long Term Stewardship assessment to assess whether the remedy was implemented and protective of human health and the environment. EPA determined that the remedy institutional and engineering controls have been fully implemented and no control deficiencies were identified.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The Exelon Corp. (formerly Philadelphia Electric Company) Facility in Chester, Pennsylvania is a 90-acre site located along the Delaware waterfront in Chester, Pennsylvania, approximately 20 miles south of Philadelphia. The Chester waterfront has been industrial since the 1800s. In the past Exelon used the property to generate electricity from a coal-fired plant. Exelon also leased several parcels of their property to various industries that included the former Chem Clear facility. Exelon has since closed the coal-fired plant and sold the majority of site to a redeveloper. Currently, a few acres of the site are being used by Exelon for an electricity substation.
In May 2001, Exelon sold most of the property to Preferred Real Estate Investments (Preferred). The property is a Keystone Opportunity Zone. Preferred converted the old coal-fired power plant into a high-tech office building. The building has approximately 396,000 square feet of Class A office space. In 2007, Preferred sold the property to the development firm, Bucinni and Pollin. In 2010, a new major league soccer stadium was constructed on the east side of the property. Subsequently, the property was sold to Keystone Sports and Entertainment, LLC who is the present owner.
The contaminants of concern within the seventeen acres included BTEX (hydrocarbons: benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene) and PAHs (poly aromatic hydrocarbons), LNAPLs (light non-aqueous phase liquids: hydrocarbons that float on water), Semi-volatile Organic Compound and some metals.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
As part of the Facility Lead and Post Closure Agreements, there is an institutional control restricting the use of groundwater on the entire facility. Also PECO will continue to operate and monitor groundwater remediation as part of these agreements.
As part of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) Consent Order, any future residential development on the site must meet the Pennsylvania Statewide Health residential standards.
The latest long term stewardship site inspection report from September 6, 2022 concluded that the implemented remedies are effective in meeting the objectives of protection of human health and the environment. Refer to the report using this link Documents, Reports and Photographs
EPA concludes that the implemented remedies are effective in meeting the objectives of protection of human health and the environment.
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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Governmental Controls (GC) |
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Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | |||
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Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.