A
municipal landfill operated at the Site from the early 1940s until April 1981.
The landfill accepted municipal waste, sewage and industrial sludges, including
solid and liquid hazardous wastes. Disposal practices at the landfill
contaminated soil, sediment, groundwater, surface water and fish tissue with
hazardous chemicals. The Site was added to the Superfund Program's National Priorities List (NPL) on September 8, 1983 and deleted
from the NPL on May 27, 2014. Following cleanup, operation and
maintenance activities are ongoing. In 2022, the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) performed sampling which identified per-
and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the Site's leachate which is collected
and discharged to the local publicly owned sewage treatment facility for
treatment.
Most
of the residents in the area are on public water. However, residents
immediately surrounding the landfill rely on private drinking water supply
wells. In May 2023, EPA Region III’s Remedial Program completed
residential well sampling for PFAS, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and
perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). EPA focused on sampling wells that
were in close proximity to the landfill to determine if there was any impact
from the Site. Preliminary sampling results found PFAS in water samples
from all 15 wells. PFOA levels exceed EPA’s Removal Management Levels for
PFOA (180 ng/L) in seven of the wells sampled. PFOS levels did not exceed
the RML (120 ng/L) for that contaminant. PFOA and PFOS was also reported
in two other wells at levels below the EPA RMLs but above the Maximum
Contaminant Level (Pennsylvania MCL) for PFOA (14 ng/L) and PFOS (18 ng/L)
established by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on January 14, 2023. Two
of these nine homes are connected to public water and their
wells are used only for livestock and/or irrigation.
On
June 2, 2023, based on review of the preliminary sampling results EPA's emergency response program and the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) initiated bottled
water delivery to a total of seven homes. On June 22, 2023, EPA approved further response actions and funding to install treatment systems at these homes and
others if future sampling finds elevated concentrations of PFOA and PFOS in residential
drinking water supply wells at concentrations exceeding the applicable EPA RML
or the Pennsylvania MCL.
Investigations
are ongoing. EPA is seeking permission from property owners to sample
additional residential drinking water supply wells in the vicinity of the
landfill. Two additional residential wells were
sampled on June 14, 2023, results are pending.
