A group of environmental experts and government officials led by U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean braved the gloomy weather on Friday to see the progress at the polluted Crossley Farm site in Berks County.
The Democrat from Montgomery County was accompanied by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz on a visit to the wastewater treatment facility situated on the Hereford Township property, where hazardous waste was stored and dumped over 50 years ago.
Together, they highlighted the significant increase in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which granted $3.5 billion to the EPA for cleaning Superfund sites — areas like Crossley Farms that are contaminated by hazardous waste causing environmental and health problems for nearby communities.
“I am very proud of the work that the federal government, in collaboration with the state government and private contractors, is doing to clean up this site,” Dean told the attendees at the event on Friday. “We are caretakers of this land, and when it is polluted, we have a duty to clean it up for the next generation.”
With the influx of funds from the federal government, the EPA has allocated $10.9 million to improve groundwater treatment at Crossley Farm.
Leslee Everett, site manager for the EPA, stated that the funds are being used to install eight groundwater extraction wells at the polluted site to pump the groundwater located up to 400 feet underground to the treatment plant.
“We are now capable of treating the actual source area,” she said. “This will enable us to speed up the process.”
Efforts are also underway to make enhancements to the current plant. The agency initiated the work in April 2023, and Everett anticipates the work to be finished by this September.
“This is just one example of those funds in action,” Dean said. “When people think that Washington is just a circus — it’s not. There are a great many of us who are serious lawmakers striving to make a positive impact in our communities.”
Ortiz mentioned that the funds from the infrastructure law have empowered the EPA to carry out work at nearly 50 Superfund sites across the region that would have otherwise remained in a state of uncertainty.
“We were aware of the liabilities, but we were unable to address them due to lack of resources,” he said. “Now, we have the necessary resources and can carry out the work.”
The history of the location
During the 1960s and 1970s, over 1,200 barrels of trichloroethylene were removed from Bally Case & Cooler Company and buried, along with household waste, on a 209-acre dairy farm owned by brothers Harry and James Crossley at the time.
Trichloroethylene is a cancer-causing chemical used in industry for cleaning metal, which can harm the nervous system, liver, respiratory system, kidneys, blood, immune system, and heart. TCE does not mix with water or break down over time.
By 1983, neighbors of Crossley Farms noticed that their water had a strange smell and taste, and reported it to the agency which is now known as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The state issued a health alert, advising residents not to use water from the contaminated wells, and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency provided temporary water sources for the community.
The maximum allowed level of TCE in drinking water is 5 parts per billion. Currently, Everett stated that the groundwater at the affected area has TCE levels measuring 1.2 million parts per billion, according to the EPA.
In 1997, the EPA set up water treatment systems in homes with about 65 contaminated wells. Today, around 45 residential wells are still impacted. The EPA mentioned that the special filters ensure it's safe for residents to consume and use the water as usual.
In 2014, the EPA built a treatment facility on the property to help clean the groundwater polluted by the harmful chemicals. The facility uses air stripping technology and carbon filtration to eliminate TCE and other volatile organic compounds.
The facility has the capacity to handle up to 200 gallons of water per minute. With the ongoing improvements funded by federal infrastructure money, this capacity will increase to 250 gallons per minute.
Everett stated that the treatment facility has been effectively treating the groundwater contamination, with no detectable TCE in the water when it's released into a nearby stream.
