Polluted soil closes Pollock Park
POTTSTOWN » Borough officials are warning residents to stay out of Pollock Park because unsafe levels of heavy metals have been discovered in the soil there.
Parks and Recreation Director Michael Lenhart said warning signs have been put up in the park and temporary fencing will be erected next week.
“This is a high priority for us,” he said in a late Nov. 22 call to Digital First Media.
The discovery was made as the borough was in the process of upgrading the park. A “phase two” environmental review of the property was conducted as part of the planning and the contrac-
tor, Environmental Standards of Valley Forge, notified the borough of the draft results.
The contaminants of concern are heavy metals, lead and chromium, according to the draft report, Lenhart said.
He said the draft report showed chromium levels at 6,060 milligrams per kilogram.
According to the federal government, consuming more than .005 milligrams per kilogram per day poses an “intermediate” health risk.
According to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, “the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the EPA have determined that chromium(VI) compounds are known human carcinogens.”
“The primary effects associated with exposure to chromium(VI) compounds are respiratory, gastrointestinal, immunological, hematological, reproductive, and developmental. In addition, dermal and ocular irritation may occur from direct contact,” according to ATSDR.
The same draft also reported lead levels of 1,530 milligrams per kilogram in the soil at Pollock Park, almost four times the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety standard for lead exposure in bare soil in a playground, according to ATSDR.
According to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, “exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health. Millions of children are being exposed to lead in their homes, increasing their risks for damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems (e.g., reduced IQ, ADHD, juvenile delinquency, and criminal behavior), and hearing and speech problems.”
Lenhart said the full environmental report on the park is expected sometime next week, and the borough’s actions are “precautionary. Our consultants recommended we limit access to the park and we are following that recommendation.”
The park, which Lenhart said “was once part of the Pollock scrap yard,” is across Cross Street from a .86-acre parcel which also has contaminated soil and which the borough is considering taking ownership to add to Pollock Park’s facilities.
From 1971 until 1995 the property across the street from Pollock Park was a polyurethane sealant manufacturing plant, according to an environmental assessment of the property completed in July.
In 2001, trichloroethylene, better known as TCE, was discovered in the soil there and groundwater at the site; and in 2003, polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs were found in the soil, according to the report.
Testing across from the park shows PCBs to be in shallow soils at a level in excess of 50 milligrams per kilogram, and the EPA standard for a cleanup of an area that will be “capped,” is 10 milligrams per kilogram.