ANOTHER ROUND
Contaminated land around former Exide plant to undergo new cleanup effort
An area around the former Exide Technologies lead battery plant will undergo a new cleanup to remove toxic lead from the soil.
As of March 7, the land around Exide has been added to the Superfund National Priorities List, according to officials with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The list details hazardous waste sites eligible for cleanup, financed under the federal Superfund program.
The Exide area was subject to a previous cleanup — about 225 residential properties as well as Bernhart Park, the Sacred Heart Convent and the Rosedale Grove Campground had their soil scrubbed of toxins in 2009 and 2010.
That effort, based on established science at the time, has proved insufficient in light of new findings that trace amounts of lead pose a threat to children at levels lower than previously thought.
A new round of testing by the EPA late in 2022 found potentially harmful levels of lead, arsenic and other contaminants in the soil of 10 properties surrounding the 40-acre facility in Laureldale and Muhlenberg Township.
EPA officials proposed the Exide area for the Superfund list in September.
The Superfund area covers a roughly 1-mile radius around the Exide site and includes the 37.6-acre Bernhart Park, Bernhart Creek and potentially the properties of the 3,423 people living within that boundary.
History of pollution
Exide began operating in 1930 as Bowers Battery. The facility was acquired in 1987 by Exide, and it manufactured batteries until 2010.
The facility’s lead smelting operation ran without pollution controls until 1970, when the Clean Air Act was established.
Pollution controls limited the amount of lead released, but the facility continued to release some lead into the atmosphere until smelting operations stopped in 2013, according to EPA officials.
Exide conducted EPA-required efforts to clean the pollution until the company went bankrupt in 2020 before finishing the remediation.
The EPA held an emergency removal operation to clean the facility, starting in 2021 and ending in June, and some officials remain on site to monitor water released from the facility.
The Exide facility itself is not included in the Superfund site, as future cleanup efforts will be handled by prospective buyers of the property or the state Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA if a sale doesn’t materialize, EPA officials said.
The borders of the Superfund site could change based on the results of the first phase of EPA’s cleanup
efforts, an extensive investigation and resampling of soil and groundwater, said Thomas Smith, EPA remedial project manager.
“Groundwater, surface water, sediment, are all going to be reflected in the investigation, including Bernhart Park as well,” Smith said.
Smith and Katie Page, EPA community involvement coordinator, gave a presentation this month at Muhlenberg Junior High School on EPA’s plans for the Superfund area.
Screening levels updated
Smith noted that lead screening levels used in the current cleanup have been updated in line with the latest science.
“There is no acceptable level of lead in soil, we like it zero,” Smith said. “But zero is impossible. It (lead) is in every soil, even in areas that weren’t contaminated by lead smelting.”
He said the Superfund investigation will use a much lower lead screening level than past cleanups, so properties that didn’t qualify for remediation before can be addressed.
“What they did on the site is they … cleaned up properties (with a lead level) above 650 parts per million,” Smith said. “Our
current screening level that we are going to start looking at is going to be 100 parts per million.”
The investigation will involve surveying surrounding homes, especially those with young children most susceptible to the effects of lead.
“Our hope is to be able to ‘capture’ homes that have children under the age of 6 … and say these are the areas we are most concerned about,” Smith said.
He noted the remediation will address as many properties as needed because the Superfund program essentially provides unlimited funding.
“We are able to continue to request funds as needed to get this job done,” Smith said.
Smith said the next steps for EPA involve selecting a contractor to conduct the resampling, with a contract being awarded no earlier than late summer.
The investigation will likely take place over three to five years, Smith said.
After the resampling is done, a remedy will be proposed and selected, and cleanup efforts will begin in full.
Smith noted that homes found to pose a serious health risk can qualify for an early cleanup.
“If we find areas that are contaminated enough,
we can go in with early actions before we get to that (cleanup) decision document,” Smith said.
He said EPA is working with the state Department of Health to set up community blood testing events where families and children can be screened for elevated blood lead levels.
“My hope is that we’ll be able to get something together by fall,” Smith said.
Residents comment
The Rev. Evelyn Morrison, a local environmental advocate, asked about looking into litigation that would hold Exide responsible for the damage to the community.
“We have to look at litigation that is going to punish these corporate entities that continue to leave … a toxic footprint in our communities,” Morrison said.
Smith noted EPA has a regional counsel and a cost recovery department that focuses on holding responsible parties accountable.
“Exide did something very slippery by leaving the country,” Smith said. “We are trying to find ways to hold them and other parties responsible. But part of my job is to make sure that this cleanup continues even when we are not sure if we can hold them responsible, which is why we draw on federal dollars first.”
A few in attendance mentioned health issues they believed were stemming from lead exposure and asked whether EPA offers any related aid.
Smith said EPA doesn’t offer resources in the community for health, but he plans to explore the idea.
Other residents noted they’ve had trouble getting the word out about the possible lead contamination, noting that many in the community are Spanish speakers.
Smith said EPA would be open to hosting forums in English and Spanish.
Page noted EPA provides resources for community involvement.
She said residents can form community action groups to streamline communication between officials and affected residents and provide a public forum for discussing the Superfund site.
Community groups can also apply for grants to contract advisers that will help interpret technical information related to the Superfund, Page noted.
EPA officials encouraged residents seeking to have their properties sampled to reach out to the agency.
Contact information for the Exide Superfund site officials can be found at www.epa.gov/superfund/ exide-laureldale.
“Exide did something very slippery by leaving the country. We are trying to find ways to hold them and other parties responsible. But part of my job is to make sure that this cleanup continues even when we are not sure if we can hold them responsible, which is why we draw on federal dollars first.” — Smith Page, EPA community involvement coordinator