Pennsylvania reaches $11.5M settlement with polluters of Chesco’s Bishop Tube site
The former Bishop Tube Co. property is a 13.7-acre, vacant industrial site on Malin Road in Frazer, East Whiteland Township. steel tubing was once made there.
Pennsylvania environmental officials announced Friday that they have reached an agreement with companies to pay for pollution cleanup at the former Bishop Tube site in Chester County.
Together, three of the companies have agreed to pay nearly $11.5 million, which includes a trust fund set aside for any additional issues. The proposed deal was announced by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the companies have agreed to the terms.
“Responsible parties should be held accountable for cleaning up these old contaminated industrial sites in the Commonwealth,” DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley said in a statement.
The former Bishop Tube Co. property is a 13.7-acre, vacant industrial site on Malin Road in Frazer, East Whiteland Township, where steel tubing was once made.
It has been the subject of a long-running fight over cleanup standards and whether housing should be built there.
Bishop Tube operated from 1951 to 1999 and left behind contamination tied to historic manufacturing practices. That included the use of industrial solvents with trichloroethylene (TCE), a degreasing solvent, as the main contaminant of concern.
TCE was found in excess of state allowable levels in soil and groundwater at the site. Other chemicals were also found at levels exceeding state standards. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been detected there, according to DEP records.
The site’s current owner is Constitution Drive Partners L.P., which has planned housing at the location but did not cause pollution. Developer Brian O’Neill is president of Constitution Drive Partners.
The property is on Pennsylvania’s Priority List of Hazardous Sites for Remedial Response.
The DEP has a plan to clean up the site according to Act 2 standards, which is the state’s brownfields program. The goal under Act 2 is to make former industrial and commercial sites ready for redevelopment.
A contractor is already at work on the site and has completed soil boring and has started installing monitoring wells.
The DEP settlement includes multiple former owners of the site.
JMI and Whittaker have jointly agreed to pay $7,335,000. CDP has agreed to pay $1,250,000. Marcegaglia has agreed to pay $400,000. In addition, JMI, Whittaker, and Marcegaglia have established a $2,500,000 trust to be used for additional work.
King of Prussia-based Constitution Drive Partners L.P., which has owned the property since 2005, is a party in the settlement but will not pay toward cleanup.
This is a developing story and will be updated.