Mid-Atlantic Superfund

EPA Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic)

Pennsylvania
Montgomery County
King of Prussia

EPA ID# PAD014269971

7th Congressional District

Last Update: June 2008

Other Names

Weldwire Kessler
Kessler Stanley & Co. Inc.

Current Site Status

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing the cleanup of the Stanley Kessler Co. site where construction of a groundwater treatment system was completed in October 1998. Groundwater extraction and treatment will continue until the onsite groundwater reaches safe levels. Kessler conducts semi-annual groundwater sampling to monitor the effectiveness of the groundwater treatment system.

Site Description

The Stanley Kessler Company, Inc. site is located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The company is engaged in degreasing and repackaging of welding wire. Past operational practices resulted in spillage of solvent degreasers into floor drains that fed into an underground septic tank and into a cesspool with no structural bottom. In 1979, organic compounds found in solvents and degreasers, such as 1,2,3-trichloropropane, trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethane were detected in the Upper Merion Reservoir about ½ mile north from the site. The reservoir is a major source of drinking water for the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, which serves an estimated 800,000 people. Groundwater on-site is contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including TCE and 1,1,1 trichloroethane (TCA) from the former waste disposal practices. Approximately 5,000 people live within a mile of the site. The area surrounding the site is industrial, with private residences situated beyond the neighboring industrial facilities. The site threatens a current source of drinking water.

Site Responsibility

This site was the responsiblity of Federal and State governments, the site owner and parties potentially responsible for site contamination.

NPL Listing History

Our country's most serious, uncontrolled, or abandoned hazardous waste sites can be cleaned using federal money. To be eligible for federal cleanup money, a site must be put on the National Priorities List. This site was proposed to the list on December 30, 1982 and formally added to the list on September 8, 1983.

Threats and Contaminants

Groundwater on site is contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including TCE and 1,1,1 trichloroethane (TCA) from the former waste disposal practices. VOCs have been detected in the drinking water reservoir. People may be at risk by drinking contaminated ground water.

Contaminant descriptions and associated risk factors are available on the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, an arm of the CDC, web site at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hazdat.html

Cleanup Progress

In 1981, the Stanley Kessler Company removed liquid wastes and 60 to 80 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the cesspool and septic tank and removed them from the site. The tank areas were then backfilled. The company also installed monitoring wells on the site. In 1984, the company installed a small groundwater recovery and treatment system on site. The groundwater treatment and soil flushing program was discontinued in 1990 in order to conduct the remedial investigation. The company had conducted limited groundwater monitoring from 1985 through 1990. The Stanley Kessler Company, under EPA oversight, completed a study of site contamination in 1994 as ordered under a 1991 consent decree. Despite the groundwater remediation that was conducted from 1984 to 1990, contaminant concentrations are still significantly higher than drinking water quality standards. The EPA selected the following remedy to address the contaminated groundwater at the site: groundwater extraction and treatment by activated carbon; deed restriction to prohibit the installation of new wells in the area of contamination; and periodic sampling of groundwater and treated water. Construction of the groundwater extraction system began in the summer of 1998 and was completed in October 1998. An additional groundwater extraction well was installed in February 2003 to improve upon the removal of the contaminated groundwater.

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