"Funding will help clean up leaking tank sites"

PhillyBurbs.com: "Funding will help clean up leaking tank sites," by Rich Pietras, Intelligencer, July 3, 2009:

The state is applying for $6.1 million in federal funds to clean up 71 leaking underground storage tanks, including some in Warrington, Horsham and Springfield.


Gov. Ed Rendell said the grants were targeted to sites where abandoned underground storage tanks have delayed redevelopment because of concerns about possible contamination and the cost to clean it up.

The funds will be distributed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and are designed to be used where the responsible party is either unknown or unable or unwilling to remove the tanks and remediate the site. In the latter cases, the state Department of Environmental Protection will perform the work and may take action to recover cleanup costs.

The small, family owned Malcolm's Auto Repair and Body Shop on Route 611 in Warrington seems to fit the state's goal of trying to revitalize a dormant site.

The gas station, which has not been operating for years, went up for auction last fall, and as of January, had no takers. In the past, residents and township representatives have complained about the abandoned business that they see as an eyesore.

In addition to Malcolm's, other local sites that were identified include:

The Stony Point Grocery in Springfield.

Glemser Bros. in Horsham.

OJP Auto Service Inc. in Norristown.

Center Square Citgo in Whitpain.

Teresa Candori, the press secretary for the DEP, said while all leaking underground tanks are scheduled for cleanup, this federal stimulus money is a supplement to existing programs. Once the funds are released, the sites have to initiate the cleanup effort within 60 days and must be finished within a year and a half. When the funds would become available was unknown.