EPA RCRA ID: PAD000443705
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Facility Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Status
Note: The EPA is the lead agency for managing cleanups at this facility.
The facility has completed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action requirements and a Statement of Basis has been completed and a public notice has been issued by EPA. The Agency has determined, based on available information, that there are no unaddressed releases of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents from the facility. On September 30, 2013, the EPA issued a Final Corrective Action Determination that Corrective Actions are complete with controls. The Remedy Decision included:
- Operation and maintenance of groundwater monitoring system as required by PADEP Solid Waste Permit No. 100739.
- Maintenance of landfill caps as required by PADEP Solid Waste Permit No. 100739
- Operation and maintenance of the leachate collection system as required by PADEP Solid Waste Permit No. 100739
- Compliance with and maintenance of land use restrictions to prohibit residential use of the Facility by protecting the integrity and functionality of: all landfill caps, the gas collection systems, the leachate detection/collection and treatment/removal systems, and the groundwater monitoring wells as required by PADEP Solid Waste Permit No. 100739
Cleanup Background
The Western Berks Community Landfill and Recycling Center facility operates as a permitted, active Municipal Waste Landfill. As such, current and future access is restricted to required operation and maintenance activity. The facility is fenced to prevent unauthorized access. Current and future groundwater use is restricted to monitoring and maintenance activities
PADEP routinely inspects the facility for compliance with its permit requirements (Solid Waste Permit No. 100739). Groundwater is monitored as part of the Facility-wide monitoring required under the State Permit. There are currently 18 groundwater monitoring wells; one background well and 17 perimeter wells. With the construction of the Eastern Expansion (current fill site), only one private off-site well is available to be sampled. The sampling schedule is prescribed by the State Permit. Wells are monitored on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual schedule, based on the specific needs of the Site that each well is monitoring.
A leachate collection system collects the leachate that is generated from the disposal areas. Leachate from the hazardous waste cell is collected and trucked off-site for treatment. Leachate from the non-hazardous cells is treated at an on-site plant located at the southern perimeter of the Facility property adjacent to the Schuylkill. It operates under NPDES Permit PA 0054852, issued by PADEP. The treated water is discharged to the Schuylkill.
Groundwater monitoring will continue under the State Permit and through the required post-closure period.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. It is not intended as an extensive list of milestones/activities. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table and the Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility table that follows, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The Western Berks Refuse Authority landfill is located approximately 13 miles southeast of Reading, PA. The property includes over 200 acres and seven disposal sites; including five filled sites, one active site, and one future site. Past disposal included municipal waste, residual waste, and hazardous waste. It currently accepts only municipal waste. The Schuylkill River surrounds the property on three sides: south, east and west.
Contaminants at this Facility
Groundwater beneath the facility was contaminated with heavy metals and organic compounds. Groundwater quality has improved over time as disposal areas have been capped to prevent infiltration of water through the waste. Current groundwater monitoring results show no exceedances of drinking water standards (Maximum Contaminant Levels) for any of the contaminants on-site.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls include groundwater restrictions and monitoring, maintenance of landfill caps and leachate collection system, and restriction of land use for residential purposes.
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
Documents available on-line: |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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Governmental Controls (GC) |
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Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | ||||
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Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.