Haverford YMCA was Built on Superfund Site

The U.S.  Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its latest – and hopefully last – remediation effort at the Havertown Superfund Site on Nov. 19, aimed at collecting contaminants that have flowed deep underground from the original site.

Nearly everything else at the site, established in 1983, including the original site, National Wood Preservers; Philadelphia Chewing Gum factory, Naylor’s Run Creek, and contamination that rose to the surface at several home on Rittenhouse Circle, have been remediated.  Most of the land has been reused, including for the Haverford YMCA.

The Havertown site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1983.  National Wood Preservers treated telephone poles and railroad ties with creosote and dumped the residue, oil contaminated with pentachlorophenol (PCPs), arsenic, dioxin and other pollutants, from 1947 to 1991.  The company dumped the contaminants directly onto the ground and down a well where it floated on top of the ground water and out into Naylor’s Run for decades.

The EPA has successfully removed, capped and captured most of the “shallow” contaminates lying on top of the ground water and now it is going after a “deep” plume that has slipped through fissures in the bedrock and floats on top of the water in a deeper aquifer.  Except for a few wells, most of the 26,000 people who reside near the site are on city water and not exposed to the chemicals, EPA officials have said.

At the presentation, which was Zoomed, EPA officials Joshua Barber and Robert Stank explained next steps. The agency will drill three and possibly four, recovery wells to the north and east of the plume, finishing in March 2025.  There will be some minor traffic disruption around the drilling sites where residents will see drilling equipment and large trucks.  All affected businesses will remain open and accessible, the officials said.

EPA is also building a large permanent water treatment plant to replace a temporary one at 900 Eagle Rd., across from the Haverford YMCA.  EPA has secured a $21.5 million construction budget to build the 10,000-square-foot facility.  Once completed in September, 2025, the building will look like a warehouse and will be landscaped to minimize its industrial appearance.  The existing temporary plant was built in 1991. Stank said there is a large crane on site and the contractors have already completed the foundation.  Once completed the plant will filter out the contaminants and return the water –   restored to drinking water quality – to the aquifer. 

In response to questions, the EPA officials said that plant life and aquatic life in Naylor’s Run has been largely restored to pre-contamination conditions.  Occasional spots of oily sheens are seen in the creek when the water table is high, they said. Asked if the change in the federal administration from President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump will affect the project, Barber said it was unlikely since the EPA had already procured the funding, construction had started, and ongoing Superfund projects always receive priority in the EPA’s budget.

The EPA has worked closely with the township and with its Environmental Advisory Committee for many years to remediate the site with the least disruption to the area’s residents and businesses.

Voluminous documents relating to the site can be found here or by searching EPA Region 3.   Haverford.   The officials were unable to say how much the project has cost since 1983 but promised to try to compile that figure.

— Jodine Mayberry for Delaware County Environmental Clearing House