The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it’s proposing a cleanup plan for the Chem Fab Superfund Site in Doylestown Borough. The public is encouraged to review the plan and offer comments.
The proposal includes a combination of processes to address the soil and gas vapors that come from the contaminated soil, as well as ongoing removal of contaminated soil and an off-site disposal of the polluted sediment, according to the EPA.
Half a million dollars from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill has been used to help build a “state-of-the-art” groundwater extraction and treatment system at the property. Once treated, the water will be returned to Cooks Run, officials said. The EPA anticipates spending $6.3 million on the extensive project that started in 1990 when the agency connected affected homes and businesses to public water. More than 115 drums of chemicals and 8,400 gallons of liquid waste have been removed from the site and disposed of through 2014, according to the agency.
In 2015 and 2017, additional wells were installed to determine the spread of the groundwater contamination, the EPA said, and in 2017 and 2018 several homes were studied for contaminated gases from the polluted soil. The agency said the houses were not affected.
From the mid-1960s through the late-1970s Chem Fab operated an electroplating and metal etching facility on the property, where it stored and disposed of the toxic waste which heavily contaminated the groundwater.
The site was added to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List in 2008, making it eligible for federal remediation funding.
A public meeting is scheduled for May 31 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Doylestown Borough Hall, 10 Doyle St. The meeting can also be joined virtually.
To view the proposed plan, visit www.epa.gov/superfund/chemfab.
It can also be seen at the Bucks County Free Library, 150 S. Pine St. in Doylestown.
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