The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public hearing April 23, to receive public comments on the cleanup of the Rapid Circuits site in Levittown, Bucks County.

The 7 p.m. hearing will be at the Bristol Township Building on 2501 Bath Road.

“During a routine inspection in October 2011, our inspectors discovered that the company was storing large quantities of waste, including hazardous waste, for extended periods of time,” DEP Southeast Regional Director Cosmo Servidio said. “After learning of Rapid Circuits’ reported financial trouble and that electric and water utilities had been shut off, we returned to the site to conduct an inventory of materials.”

The company, located at 6401 MacPherson Ave. in Levittown, previously manufactured printed circuit boards for the electronics industry. Its process line included a number of plating baths, plating solutions and a hazardous wastewater treatment system.

The February 2012 inventory revealed the presence of sulfuric acid, isopropyl alcohol, formaldehyde and other chemicals used in the plating process. Despite a resulting notice of violation and subsequent order to company owners, most of the hazardous materials remained on-site.

DEP cleanup efforts began in October 2012 to analyze, secure and remove 138 drums and cubic yard boxes of waste from the site, along with nearly 65,000 pounds of liquid waste. Work was completed in March 2013.

An administrative record containing detailed information on DEP’s investigation and resulting action is available for review at the agency’s Norristown office. Written comments on the record will be accepted until June 14 and should be sent to Hazardous Sites Cleanup Project Officer Dennis Kutz by sending email to: dkutz@pa.gov.

Those interested in presenting comments at the hearing may register in advance by contacting DEP Community Relations Coordinator Lynda Rebarchak by sending email to: lrebarchak@pa.gov.

4/22/2013