Heavily Polluted Chesco Industrial Site Could See Development

EAST WHITELAND, PA — The state has announced a plan to remediate the site of a proposed development in Chester County that was devastated by industrial pollution throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Environmentalists, however, argue the plan is an unacceptable solution and that risk to humans and the ecosystem remains.

The 14-acre site, just south of U.S. 30 in East Whiteland, was once home to stainless steel tube producer Bishop Tube and Company and Platinum Works, whose work leached the carniogenic chemcial trichloroethylene (TCE), contaminating the soil, groundwater, and surface water. TCE can result in serious neurological, cardiac, reproductive, and developmental health problems, officials said. Its home to other cancer-causing chemicals, too, including the notorious "forever chemical" PFAS, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection found earlier this year.

The DEP says they'll repair the area with a mix of "chemical injections, soil mixing, engineering practices, institutional controls, and long-term monitoring," but environmentalists say the proposal is insufficient and misses the point.

"This proposal, besides falling way short, spends a lot more time worrying about what it’s going to cost the responsible parties than what are the impacts for the current neighboring residents, for the environment, and for potential future residents if this site actually is allowed to be developed for residential use," Maya van Rossum, the executive director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said in a statement published on the group's Facebook page.

Developer Brian O'Neill has been trying to build on the parcel for years. His company has filed lawsuits against environmental organizations critical of his plans — which Delaware Riverkeeper has said is an attempt to "silence" their concerns — as his company endeavors to build hundreds of housing units at the site. Rossum and critics argue the site has caused "very serious health ramifications" to both area residents and former employees. "Mr. O’Neill should be ashamed of himself for misusing the law to threaten people into silence and seeking a judgment that would strip them of their First Amendment rights to free speech and to petition their government for appropriate action," she said at the time.

The Sierra Club's Pennsylvania branch notes that Bishop Tube has a TCE exposure level of 1.9 billion parts per billion. The EPA's limit for safe exposure is 5.

The state, however, appears confident that their remediation plan will be sufficient and that development can move forward once their work is done.

“This remediation plan represents the culmination of a thorough assessment and review of a complex site,” Pat Patterson, Department of Environmental Protection regional director, said in a statement. “We believe this remedy selection will provide a comprehensive pathway for cleaning up and reusing the site in a way that is protective of public health and the environment.”

Patterson and the DEP say their proposal fulfills standards in accordance with state regulations. The chemical injections at the site will create a chemical reaction that destroys harmful contaminants and produces harmless byproducts, they argue. Such "in situ" work is done without excavating any soil or pumping out groundwater.

Industry was rampant in the area from the 1950s to 1999, until Bishop Tube was finally shut down.