Dear Friend, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to remove 201 East Tenth St, Marcus Hook, PA 19061 from the EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL). Clean Air Council has significant concerns about this site, which is highly contaminated with several known neurotoxins. The site was once the location of a large rayon manufacturing plant beginning in 1910 and transitioned to cellophane manufacturing before closing in 1977. After 1977, the site became a disposal area for hazardous substances like asbestos and was placed on the NPL in 1994. The NPL is intended to document sites that require further investigation to address public health risks and to guide federally funded cleanup efforts. EPA now claims that the land cleanup is being adequately supervised by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), but the land cleanup has not concluded. Furthermore, the Council has significant concerns that DEP will ensure a thorough clean up. The Council believes that the site should remain on the NPL until the cleanup is concluded, and EPA determines that cleanup measures are effective, and ensure that the health and welfare of residents of this environmental justice community are fully protected over the long term. Most troubling is DEP’s approval of a cleanup plan at the site that proposes to discontinue groundwater monitoring. The site is to be redeveloped as a warehouse. Without an approved final report and with no plan to continue groundwater monitoring at this contaminated site, there is no justification to remove this site from the NPL. The specific redevelopment proposal has not been made public and could potentially cause significant flooding and infrastructure issues at the site, causing dangerous pollutants to be dispersed into the Delaware River and surrounding communities. The lasting effectiveness of the ongoing land cleanup must be monitored by the EPA. Please tell EPA to leave the East 10th Street site on the Superfund National Priorities List.  | |
Joseph Otis Minott, Esq.
Executive Director and Chief Counsel | |
