Foes: Don’t develop Bishop Tube site

Former home of East Whiteland factory eyed for townhouse development

Residents want the former Bishop Tube factory site cleaned up and preserved as open space – not developed as a massive townhouse community as is being proposed by a prominent builder.

Developer Brian O’Neill has plans for 228 townhomes along the Malin Road property formerly known as Bishop Tube. He originally presented plans for nearly 300 homes, according to township officials.

East Whiteland Township supervisors held an informational public discussion Wednesday at the request of residents and representatives from organizations with concerns about the development site. They plan to discuss the site with the state Department of Environmental Protection at a later meeting about the contaminated site. Residents, many of whom oppose development of the site and would rather it be preserved as open space, jammed the meeting.

Maya K. van Rossum, of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, encouraged the supervisors to apply for a technical evaluation grant to have the site reviewed.

Van Rossum said the concern is who will claim the responsibilities for the clean-up and the costs, as well as when that will occur and what will happen with the land when it is remediated. O’Neill has agreed to clean up the land. O’Neill Properties Group, of King a Prussia, was not immediately

available for comment on Thursday. O’Neill did not attend the meeting.

“This site will be fully cleaned up,” van Rossum said. “It does not require O’Neill and his development project to get it fully cleaned up.”

She said her organization opposes the housing plan and its partial cleanup because of the storm water management issues, and because it would bring new families to an area that will “continue to suffer from contamination for some undetermined period

of time.”

She said that after the community was “subjected to serious contamination at this site for decades” that they deserve to have the site fully remediated and preserved for their enjoyment of open space.

One resident named John said that the residents have health concerns because of the property and they would have more concerns for the prospective families that would live there. He said is he also concerned that the new development could impact

their property value and it “would be a disaster.”

“This community says no,” John said.

Residents also expressed concerns about traffic, flooding and storm water management issues because of the nearby Valley Creek. The residents asked the supervisors and township officials to discuss the matter with environmental groups to determine if the site would be safe for any type of development.

In the 1960s, the Bishop Tube facility manufactured metal tubing. As part of the manufacturing process, the plant used a wide range of chemicals, some of them toxic. These chemicals are believed to have seeped into the ground, where they remain, contaminating the soil, according to prior reports.

One resident expressed concerns about the developers

digging up the soil and if the contaminated land would get pushed on to their homes and property. The crowd applauded in agreement with his concern.

The supervisors noted that the zoning of that area had changed in 2004 from industrial to residential. East Whiteland supervisor Chairman Bill Holmes said that the zoning change was supported by a previous board to help with the clean-up process, as requested by the developers in an agreement to rezone the land. The 28-acre property of the proposed site is zoned as Residential Revitalization District.

Holmes said he is in favor of the entire site being cleaned up, and it is one reason why he ran for office. Several residents shouted from the audience that they agree about

the remedial work, but that they want the land saved as open space and not for houses. Some residents said they did not support the development because the plans do not involve cleaning the entire site.

That was a common theme among the audience, several of whom repeated several times that they are in favor of preserving that site for open space and they oppose the proposed development. Holmes told the standing room only crowd that they will have to consider if they are willing to pay to preserve open space in the future. Some said they would.

The planning commission has a meeting at 7:30 p.m. on April 26 at the township building.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Developers are interested in building residences on the former Bishop Tube factory in East Whiteland.