"EPA to test near former Chem-Fab plant"

By Christina Kristofic, Intelligencer, March 23, 2010:

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to soon begin testing buildings on and near the former Chem-Fab plant on Broad Street in Doylestown for "vapor intrusion" - that is, the possible leaching of chemical vapors through the soil and into the air.


"Any place where there are volatile organic chemicals in the soil or groundwater, there's a potential for vapor intrusion," said EPA spokesman David Polish.

Trichloroethene, carbon tetrachloride, dichloroethene and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) are all classified as volatile organic chemicals, and have all been found at the Chem-Fab site. Hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen that is dangerous if inhaled or ingested, has also been found at the site.

Polish said officials at the EPA don't believe people who live and work near the Chem-Fab site have any reason to panic; the vapor intrusion testing is a precaution the EPA is taking at other contaminated sites where the federal agency is overseeing cleanup.

EPA officials said they have not yet identified which neighboring buildings will be tested.

"We want to make sure this is not happening at the (Chem-Fab) site," he said. "And the way to do that, obviously, is to do the testing."

The EPA will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Central Bucks West High School, where officials will explain their plans for vapor intrusion testing and answer any questions people have.

Federal and state environmental agencies began investigating the Chem-Fab site for contamination about a decade ago.

Chem-Fab was an electroplating and metal etching operation from 1965 to 1994.

Shortly after it closed, drug dealers began using the property as a meth lab. The EPA and the FBI closed the lab in 1995 and removed more than 100 drums of hazardous substances and more than 8,000 gallons of chromic acid waste that had been left on the site.

The EPA referred the site to the state Department of Environmental Protection in 1999 and the DEP discovered the contaminants in the groundwater and the soil.

Contaminated wells, including a municipal well, were closed in 2004 so no one could drink or bathe in the water. Nearby residences and businesses were connected to Doylestown's public water system.

The DEP tested the groundwater, soil and air again in 2009 before it turned the site over to the EPA. A DEP spokeswoman said at the time that the only building where the air was found to be contaminated was at 330 N. Broad St., but officials from the state Department of Health and OSHA determined that the level of contamination was not significant enough to require remedial action.

Polish said the EPA expects to begin vapor intrusion testing in April. It will not receive the results of the testing for two to three months after the tests are conducted.