"DEP: Well cleanups progressing"

By Freda R. Savana, Intelligencer, December 15, 2010:

Officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection took Plumstead residents through a detailed presentation Tuesday on its efforts to address well contamination that, authorities say, was the result of fighting an industrial fire on Stump Road in June.


About 30 residents attended the public hearing, part of a process DEP must make as it provides clean water to 10 homes with various levels of polluted water. Several expressed concerns about what happens if contamination is discovered in the future.

Tracy Thiebeau, who lives near the scene of the blaze, which destroyed Customs Particle Reduction Inc., questioned "who will be responsible five or 10 years from now, if we have problems."

Officials assured homeowners the agency will continue to monitor the area surrounding the fire and be available if further action is needed.

"We'll be here," said Bill Blasberg, an assistant counsel with DEP.

Some three million gallons of water were used to battle the four-alarm blaze at the business, which processed food additives. Officials believe runoff polluted soil and water in the area.

Bonnie McClennen, project manager for the Plumstead contamination, said the agency has completed drilling and connecting seven new wells, all of which have filtration systems to rid the water of lingering pollution. She said it's still unclear if the cause of the remaining contamination is the result of runoff from fighting the fire or from natural sources.

Three property owners have had permanent filtration systems installed on their wells, said McClennen.

Testing has shown the water from the new wells and those with only filtrations systems to be safe. Ragesh Patel, a manager with DEP, said sampling will continue for at least one year.

Two ponds on the site have been drained and excavated. Soil and water testing has shown them to be free of pollution so far, said Tim Sheehan, a field supervisor for DEP's Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program.

. . . [Two residents] have not been in their home since the June 29 fire. Smoke filled their house, forcing them to evacuate and not return until it's been fully remediated, perhaps in January.

"I'm not happy," said . . . [one], citing concern over a lack of oversight as the company begins to rebuild.

"There should be mile markers they have to meet. I want to see you ride them," she told DEP officials.

Sheehan agreed but said it was not his agency's responsibility to oversee the business. He pointed to township and county officials to meet that need.

"We never thought in our wildest dreams there would be a fire there," noted Patel, who said DEP has spent $650,000 to $700,000 to address the water and soil contamination so far.

At the time of the fire, Custom Particle Reduction had an inventory that included 160,000 pounds of sodium benzoate, a commonly used preservative. Early rounds of sampling revealed elevated levels of benzene, sodium, antimony, manganese and benzoic acid in nearby ponds that had received runoff from firefighting activities, according to DEP.

Benzoic acid, a breakdown product of sodium benzoate, along with other contaminants found in the ponds was also found in some residential wells, DEP said.

Blasberg said DEP is pursuing efforts to have Customs Particle Reduction foot the bill for the clean-up. While there's no "active litigation," the attorney said the state's Environmental Hearing Board is expected to consider DEP's request.