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The Bishop Tube site in East Whiteland Township will get cleaned up, according to a release from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP filed a remediation plan that addresses contamination in soil, groundwater and surface water, and provides for a public water connection to a private homeowner at the Bishop Tube Hazardous Site Cleanup Act site.

“This remediation plan represents the culmination of a thorough assessment and review of a complex site,” said DEP Southeast Regional Director Pat Patterson. “We believe this remedy selection will provide a comprehensive pathway for cleaning up and reusing the site in a way that is protective of public health and the environment.

“The site will be remediated to a combination of background, statewide health, and site-specific standards in accordance with the Land Recycling Program. After considering several courses of action, DEP selected a combination of in situ chemical injections, soil mixing, engineering practices, institutional controls, and long-term monitoring to address the soil, groundwater and surface water contamination.”

The residence with the impacted private well will be connected to an existing public water line.

“The injection of chemical oxidation or reducing agents creates a chemical reaction that destroys harmful contaminants and produces harmless byproducts,” according to the DEP. “It is commonly described as ‘in situ’ because it is conducted in place, without having to excavate soil or pump out groundwater for aboveground cleanup.

“Several industrial businesses manufactured stainless steel tubes at the 13.7-acre Bishop Tube HSCA site from the 1950s to 1999,” according to the release. “Trichloroethylene is considered the primary site-related contaminant of concern because its concentrations within soil, groundwater, and surface water are generally higher than other chlorinated solvents at the site and it poses the most substantial threat to human health and the environment. TCE is a commercial-grade solvent that was commonly used as a degreasing agent for manufactured metal parts. Besides being a known carcinogen, prolonged exposure to TCE can result in serious neurological, cardiac, reproductive and developmental health problems.”

Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, is a harsh critic of the cleanup efforts.

“Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania DEP’s remediation plan for the Bishop Tube site is more concerned about prioritizing the goals and costs of the parties responsible for cleanup than the needs and safety of the impacted communities, including the current neighbors as well as future potential residents if the developer who wants to build homes on this site gets his way,” van Rossum said. “The Delaware Riverkeeper Network has been clear, this site requires that all of the highest clean up methods and standards be required, for two reasons.

“The first is that the neighbors and environments have been suffering the impacts of the toxic contamination at the site for well over 30 years. Throughout that time the DEP has known the site was contaminated with dangerous levels of pollution and toxins but rather than avidly pursue clean up, DEP prioritized working on a sweetheart deal that would allow residential development of the site – a deal that the Delaware Riverkeeper Network successfully challenged in court.

“The impacted neighbors and environments have suffered enough. Using the best clean up pathways is what they are owed by the state and the responsible parties.  Secondly the site is proposed for residential development, and it is essential that any future residents be given the benefit of the fullest protection possible, and that means the most extensive cleanup approaches possible – not anything second tier or lesser.

“What our communities and environments are really owed is that this site be cleaned up to the fullest extent and also purchased and protected as natural open space for benefit of the environment and the public. Johnson Matthey and Whittaker Corp. need to be good corporate citizens and neighbors and rather than investing in lawyers and experts to whittle down the extent and cost of the cleanup they are required to pursue, they should be putting up the monies necessary for that highest clean up protection and natural open space preservation.”

Van Rossum talked about a family’s recent loss.

“Recent events make the call for this natural open space protection even more poignant for the community,” she said. “This past week one of the lead families seeking full clean up and preservation as natural open space was hit head-on by a drink driver, all four family members in the car suffered serious injuries.

“And as a result of the accident, this past Saturday, Larry Stauffer passed away.  Larry’s daughter had suffered multiple bouts of brain tumors as a child. The Stauffers believe the toxic contamination at Bishop Tube was a factor. Kate and Larry and the whole Stauffer family wanted to end the cycle of harm from Bishop Tube and have worked tirelessly toward that end goal. If Johnson Matthey and Whittaker Corp. want to truly do what is right, they will purchase the site, turn it over to a nonprofit steward, and ensure its preservation as natural open space for benefit of the public and the environment, and do so in Larry Stauffer’s name.”

DEP received and responded to hundreds of comments, including those received at a virtual public hearing in November 2021. For information on the Bishop Tube site, please visit: www.dep.pa.gov/bishoptube.

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