Dear Friend, Hilco is applying to construct the second of 16 planned large warehouses in the footprint of the former Philadelphia refinery, in addition to its planned “Innovation Campus” north of Passyunk Avenue. Hilco’s proposal for this 727,272 square foot warehouse on a 48 acre parcel along 26th street could create significant flooding and water pollution issues for the Schuylkill River and the surrounding community. Most concerning, Hilco claims that the land at the former refinery is currently impervious, meaning that it does not drain, but the vast majority of land at the site is actually made up of dirt and not paved. Furthermore, Hilco acknowledges that, “Some removal of this historic land cover recently occurred as part of the demolition of the refinery facility in preparation for the site to be redeveloped.” Even if the land was formerly impervious and consisted of “compacted soil” as Hilco claims, the removal of that land cover would change the site’s drainage. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) should require Hilco to reassess the site’s drainage after its recent removal of land cover. Hilco’s proposal to build a large warehouse and parking lot can only increase the amount of stormwater that will be pushed off the site during a rain event. December 2023 was the third wettest December in Philadelphia’s recorded history and March 23rd, 2024 was recorded as the wettest March day in the city’s history, with over 3 inches of rain falling in about half a day. March 2024 was additionally recorded as the 6th wettest March in the city’s history. South Philadelphia residents deserve an accurate accounting of the flooding impacts that Hilco’s proposed redevelopment will bring as the Schuylkill River continues to flood during large rain events, like in late December 2023. It is concerning that the current stormwater discharge application for this warehouse site does not include information about the stormwater that will be discharged from the other proposed warehouse immediately south of the current proposal. During construction, stormwater from both of these sites will be directed to the same stormwater collection system and ultimately the same stormwater outfall. Other warehouses that have yet to be formally proposed will likely also discharge to this common system and that collective volume of stormwater must be fully assessed. Comments are due today, Monday, April 8th. Please click here to tell DEP to accurately assess the water discharge impacts of Hilco’s proposed redevelopment.  Sincerely, Russell Zerbo, rzerbo@cleanair.org, 215-567-4004 x130 | |
