A settlement of water quality violations by Merck and Co., Inc. in Montgomery County has yielded $9 million in environmental projects to cleanup and protect the Wissahickon watershed.

Merck has agreed to pay $4.5 million for environmental projects that will be directed to the Whitemarsh Foundation to purchase and preserve approximately 100 acres of undeveloped land within the highly urbanized Wissahickon watershed.

Known as the Erdenheim Farm Angus Tract, the land will be maintained as open space and the settlement terms require that public access be maintained in the future; that 10 acres of the property be designated as wetlands, wet meadow or open water; and that the entire tract be protected from development.

Merck will contribute another $4.5 million to the Wissahickon watershed, providing funds to restore watershed features on both the Natural Lands Trust and Angus tracts of Erdenheim Farm; develop a drinking water early warning system for the city’s Queen Lane plant in cooperation with the Philadelphia Water Department; purchase and install an automated dissolved oxygen control at the Upper Gwynedd sewage treatment plant; and implement a variety of practices to improve the Wissahickon Creek’s water quality.

The funds were provided as a result of a penalty settlement with Merck by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Environmental Protection resulted in a total of $20 million in environmental projects and penalties.

Under the agreement, Merck will pay $4.5 million to DEP, $4.5 million to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and invest $10 million for the plant upgrades. The company will also pay fines of $750,000 to DEP for violating Pennsylvania’s Clean Streams Law, Solid Waste Management Act and Safe Drinking Water Act; $750,000 to the EPA; and $75,000 to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

In June 2006, Merck released potassium thiocyanate into the local sewer system. The compound passed through the disinfection process at Upper Gwynedd Township’s sewage treatment facility where it combined with chlorine and formed a cyanide compound.

The discharge made its way into the Wissahickon Creek, where it killed more than 1,000 fish, then into the Schuylkill River where it impacted drinking water operations and water recreation in Philadelphia for several days.

NewsClip: Merck to Pay $20 Million for Wissahickon Pollution

$20 Million Settlement Reach in Merck Spill

Fish Kill to Cost Merck $20 Million

12/14/2007