Mid-Atlantic Superfund

EPA Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic)

Pennsylvania
Lancaster County
Denver

EPA ID# PAD980538649

16th Congressional District

Last Update: August 2008

Other Names

Schoeneck Landfill

Current Site Status

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has implemented the cleanup of the Berkley Products site. The cleanup includes a cap for the landfill and installation of additional monitoring wells to ensure the continued safety of the residents' groundwater supplies. Construction of the remedy began in 2000 and was completed at the end of 2001. Long-term monitoring of test wells and nearby residential wells will continue to detect any changes in the groundwater and to ensure that the residents are drinking safe water. A Five Year Review for the remedy was completed in August 2005. The Site was deleted from the National Priorities List in March 2007.

Site Description

From the 1930s until 1965, this site was a privately owned landfill that accepted municipal wastes to be burned or buried. In 1965, Lipton Paint and Varnish Co., a subsidiary of Berkley Products Co., bought the site and used it to bury municipal waste along with some organic solvents, paint wastes, resins, and pigment sludge. When operations ceased in 1970, the site was covered with soil, seeded and sold. It was estimated that the landfill contains over 103,000 cubic yards of mixed wastes.

Contamination is in the site soils and runoff, and has leached into the on-site groundwater. There are approximately 25 homes bordering the site that use private home wells for their water supply. None of the surrounding home wells have displayed site-related contamination. The Cocalico Creek passes by the site to the north and east and is a potential receptor for surface water running off the site. However, studies conducted in the creek have shown no indication of contamination so far, and the completion of the landfill cap and erosion controls will minimize the potential for future impacts. There is a supplementary public water intake located on the Cocalico about two miles downstream of the site that serves an estimated 2,000 people. The community around the site is primarily rural.

Site Responsibility

Cleanup of this site is the responsibility of the Federal government.

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 June 24, 1988 and formally added to the list March 31, 1989. It was deleted from the NPL on March 19, 2007.

Threats and Contaminants

The site contains heavy metals including barium, lead, and mercury, as well as organic compounds believed to be from the disposal of paint wastes and solvents. Plastic production wastes including phthalates have been found in groundwater, soils, and in leachate migrating off-site. Prior to the capping of the landfill, people may have been at risk through direct contact with contaminated leachate seeps. Because the ground water directly beneath the site is contaminated, there is a potential threat to drinking water. However, monitoring has shown that nearby residential wells and the nearby creek have not been affected and are not likely to be.

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 landfilling operations on the site stopped in 1970, the Berkley Products site was covered with soil and seeded by the owner. Although not a comprehensive remedy, these actions limited the potential for direct contact with wastes on the site. A Remedial Investigation to characterize the contaminants and risks presented by the site commenced in 1990. During that investigation, 73 buried drums were found, excavated, and disposed off site. In 1996, EPA selected a final remedy for the site, including a cap for the landfill and additional monitoring wells to ensure the continued safety of the residents' ground water supplies. The design for that remedy was completed in 1999. Construction of the components of the remedy started in 2000 and were completed at the end of 2001. Long-term monitoring of test wells and nearby residential wells will continue to detect any changes in the groundwater and to ensure that the residents are drinking safe water.

Contacts

Site Contacts

Administrative Record Locations