EPA to Excavate Contaminated Soil at Local Superfund Site

Contaminated soils on the former Chem Fab property will be excavated, according to information from Doylestown Borough.

On Sept. 19, the EPA approved the clean up work at the local Superfund site, located at 300-360 North Broad Street.

“Logistical planning is now underway with work hopefully to begin in October or November,” the borough announced on Facebook.

According to a report by The Intelligencer, the EPA plans to work with the current building tenants to minimize any inconvenience from the excavation.

Chem-Fab Corporation operated an electroplating and metal processing facility on that site from 1965 to 1994. According to the EPA, chemicals were stored and dumped onsite.

Nearby water wells were found to be contaminated with volatile organic chemicals, including trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE), even before the company shut down in 1994. The site was listed on the EPA’s on the National Priorities List in 2008, making it eligible for federal clean-up funds.

The EPA is also monitoring groundwater contamination at the site. Earlier this month, the EPA began installing new monitoring wells to find out the extent of groundwater contamination.

The monitoring wells will allow for periodic sampling to determine the level of groundwater contamination from the former metal processing facility.

A community Advisory Group has been established for the Chem-Fab Superfund site. For more information, contact Larry Johnson at (215) 814-3239.