New treatment system cleaning up groundwater At Crossley Farm Superfund Site

Press release:

Contact: Roy Seneca seneca.roy@epa.gov, 215-814-5567

New treatment system cleaning up groundwater

At Crossley Farm Superfund Site

BARTO, Pa. (July 10, 2012) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin commemorated the opening of a new water treatment system today in a ribbon cutting ceremony. The new system will remove contamination from the groundwater at the Crossley Farm Superfund site in Hereford Township in Berks County.

“This construction project, which used approximately $6.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and created more than 60 jobs, demonstrates EPA’s commitment to transforming the contaminated groundwater associated with this Superfund site back to beneficial use for the local community,” said Garvin. “The people of Hereford Township can look upon this site as a tremendous success story.”

Located on 200 acres of farmland, the Crossley Farm site was once used for dumping various wastes, resulting in a TCE-contaminated groundwater plume. As part of EPA’s ongoing long-term cleanup plan for the site, the pump-and-treat system will treat the TCE-contamination in the groundwater. Underground piping connects the new treatment plant to four wells where the contaminated water is pumped to the plant and treated before being discharged on farm property adjacent to Perkiomen Creek. The system, which includes four extraction wells that can pump a total of about 450 gallons per minute, will help prevent the contaminated plume of groundwater from spreading.

The groundwater will be treated with air stripping technology to remove the TCE contamination. The water will then go through carbon filtration before it is discharged. The vapors coming from the air stripping treatment will also be treated before being released.

EPA received about $6.47 million in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to accelerate construction of the treatment plant and the cleanup. This Recovery Act funding was part of the $600 million that Congress appropriated to the federal Superfund remedial program. 

More details on the Crossley Farm Superfund cleanup can be found at http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/PAD981740061.htm .