The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week added the Chem-Fab site, located in Doylestown, Bucks County, to the Superfund National Priorities List.

The NPL is a national list of sites where contaminants have impacted or might impact public health or the environment. NPL sites undergo a thorough investigation to determine the full nature and extent of the contamination prior to the cleanup by EPA or the responsible parties.

Chem-Fab operated an electroplating facility on the site from 1965 to 1978 and a metal processing plant there from 1965 to 1994. Groundwater beneath the former Chem-Fab facility and adjacent properties is contaminated with trichloroethene and hexavalent chromium. TCE was used as an industrial solvent and is considered to be a probable human carcinogen. Concentrations of TCE exceeding federal drinking water standards were detected in residential and municipal wells within one-half mile of the site.

EPA and the Department of Environmental Protection have been working together to address groundwater issues at the site. In 1991, EPA connected eight residential wells and two businesses to a public water supply due to contamination of their wells. A public water supply well was also closed due to the presence of contamination.

From 1994 to 1995, EPA removed and disposed of 117 drums of wastes and an additional 8,400 gallons of liquid waste under the Superfund removal program.

For more information, visit EPA’s Chem-Fab webpage.

3/21/2008