Mid-Atlantic Superfund

EPA Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic)

Pennsylvania
Montgomery County
Hatboro

EPA ID# PAD039017694

13th Congressional District

Last Update: June 2008

Other Names

Milford Rivet and Machine Co.,
Hatboro Plant
Jacksonville Road
Penn Fasteners Inc.

Current Site Status

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) is currently operating and maintaining an on-site groundwater treatment system and maintaining an on-site cap. The operation of the groundwater treatment system to recover volatile organic contamination is expected to continue until groundwater meeting drinking water standards. EPA estimates treatment of 525 million gallons of TCE contaminated groundwater. The on-site cap remains intact.

As the lead agency in the remedial action, the EPA performs five-year reviews and improvements on the cleanup systems. EPA is considering additional options to expedite the cleanup. In November 2006, EPA's contractor took groundwater samples to evaluate the status of remedy.

EPA also issued an Explanation of Significant Difference (ESD) for public comment in September 2007. This ESD modifies the approach to groundwater remediation at the Site by eliminating the institutional control component in the ROD for OU2 and OU3 that ensured continuous public water supply operation and treatment by the Hatboro Borough Water Authority. Instead, the ROD for OU2 and OU3 will hereafter require institutional controls in connection with the on-Site treatment system as well as contaminated groundwater attributable to the Site.

Site Description

The seven-acre Raymark site, located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has been used as a metal fabrication shop from 1948 to the present. From 1948 to 1972, treated wastes and untreated wastewater from electroplating and degreasing operations were disposed of in four unlined lagoons on site. During the same period, trichloroethylene (TCE) was stored in outdoor, above-ground tanks. Area-wide groundwater contamination was discovered in 1979 when TCE was detected in eight Hatboro Water Authority wells near the site. Of these eight wells, some were taken out of service, while others were equipped with treatment systems. The Raymark site was identified as the source of contamination in the Stockton Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to approximately 920,000 people through public and private wells within three miles of the site. Pennypack Creek is used for recreation and is 6,800 feet down gradient of the site. No contamination in the creek has been detected.

In July 1997, the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company (PSWC) executed a Prospective Purchaser Agreement (PPA) with EPA to purchase several of the contaminated drinking water wells and contaminant source control wells and the municipal water distribution system from Hatboro Borough. PSWC has participated in the pumping and maintenance of drinking water wells, starting from the effective date of the PPA, which was November 1997.

In November 2000, EPA assumed operation of the on-site groundwater treatment system due to exhaustion of the funds obtained from settlement with the potentially responsible parties (PRPs). Groundwater treatment is ongoing. Responsibility for Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the treatment system was transferred to PADEP on September 30, 2004.

Site Responsibility

Cleanup of this site was the responsibility of the Federal government and parties potentially responsible for the 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 on June 24, 1988 and formally added to the list on October 4, 1989.

Threats and Contaminants

The site has been determined to be a source of TCE contamination in the Stockton Aquifer. Wells within 250 feet from the site are contaminated with TCE as is the soil. Public water supply wells provide the public with treated water. Due to low contaminant concentrations, exposure to the soil on site does not present a human health risk.

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

When the four lagoons that once stored wastewater from the site were closed in 1972 and 1973, the remaining waste sludge was removed by a potentially responsible party to an off-site disposal facility. The lagoons were backfilled with clean soil.

In late 1991, EPA chose a remedy for the soil and source control which entails soil vapor extraction (SVE) and a low-permeability cap. The design of the remedy was completed in 1994. The SVE system operated from March 1994 until soil cleanup levels were met in October 1995. Cap construction was completed in April 1994.

The cleanup remedy for groundwater, chosen by EPA in 1990, includes extracting groundwater, treating it by through air stripper towers with vapor phase carbon adsorption, and discharging it via storm sewer to a nearby creek. The cleanup remedy also included the use of air stripper towers with vapor phase carbon adsorption at existing contaminated drinking water wells, until the issuance of the Draft ESD. In November 2006, EPA performed vapor and groundwater sampling in order to evaluate possible ways to optimize the existing remedy.

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