EPA RCRA ID: PAD002342236
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
On June 8, 2012, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Final Decision and Response to Comments (FDRTC) for the selected remedy at the Ametek U.S. Gauge Division facility (Facility). After careful review of all comments received during the public comment period regarding the proposed remedy in the Statement of Basis (SB), EPA has concluded that no modification to the proposed remedy is necessary. Therefore, the remedy proposed in the SB is now final and becomes the selected remedy.
The selected remedy for the Ametek site consists of the following:
• Establishment of a Technical Impracticability (TI) Boundary for groundwater, which consists of the Plant #2 property boundary
• Continued operation and maintenance of the Site’s groundwater pump and treat system
• Long-term groundwater stability monitoring and reporting
• Long term land development restrictions, and groundwater-related use restrictions pursuant to the Pennsylvania Uniform Environmental Covenants Act
On October 15, 2019, EPA issued an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) that modifies the Selected Remedy in 2012, Corrective Action Final Decision to permit the redevelopment of the Facility, or portions of the Facility, for residential purposes. The modifications include the following components to allow for residential development:
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It is demonstrated to EPA that the soils in the area(s) to be developed for residential purposes meet Act 2 residential soil standards and EPA provides prior written approval of such development.
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It is demonstrated to EPA that such development will not impact the on-going remedial activity at the Facility.
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Buildings constructed on the Facility will have a vapor barrier and a passive radon-type mitigation system to address potential indoor air vapor intrusion unless EPA provides prior written approval that a vapor barrier and mitigation system are not necessary.
The above listed components may be implemented through a permit, order, or in the form of an environmental covenant pursuant to the Pennsylvania Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (UECA - Act 68).
EPA has determined that the Final Remedy selected in the 2012 FDRTC as modified by the ESD will remain protective of human health and the environment.
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 former Ametek, U.S. Gauge Division Plant #2 facility is located on Clymer Avenue, Sellersville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The property is approximately 45 acres that contain a main office and a manufacturing building, as well as several small buildings for storage of materials. From 1957- 2008, Ametek manufactured pressure indicating gauges and other instrumentation for the automotive, aircraft, process and public utility industries. The production process involves multiple steps of machining, forming, cleaning, and finishing of principal components prior to final assembly.
Since 1974, several investigations were performed at the site to assess, remove and control subsurface (i.e., soil and groundwater contamination) impacts. In June 1990 EPA issued a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Administrative Order on Consent directing the facility to proceed with a site investigation and cleanup.
The primary concern at the site is groundwater migration of volatile organic contaminants (VOCs) that were used as solvents (e.g., trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethane) in the manufacturing process. This concern is being controlled with the installed groundwater extraction/treatment system. In addition to groundwater contaminants, elevated concentrations of VOCs in soil were also detected at specific locations within the boundaries of the facility. As part of the closures of the former dry and wet lagoons the contaminated soils were excavated and disposed offsite.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
The institutional controls will restrict the use of the Site to non-residential purposes and will prohibit the installation of public or domestic groundwater supply wells within the TI zone (Ametek Plant #2 Property Boundaries). The institutional controls will be implemented through in the form of an environmental covenant pursuant to the Pennsylvania Uniform Environmental Covenants Act.
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?
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Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
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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.