Norristown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) listed the Nockamixon TCE Site to Pennsylvania’s Priority List of Hazardous Sites for Remedial Response (PAPL) on January 18, 2025. Since 2009, DEP has conducted soil, surface water, and groundwater investigations on the contamination – and has worked with the impacted local homeowners to install protection measures to ensure they can have clean air and pure water. While DEP has already addressed the immediate public health impacts, adding the Site to the PAPL allows DEP to address the problem head on and remediate the contamination at the source.
“Adding this Site to Pennsylvania’s priority list will allow our cleanup program to remediate the source of the contamination,” said DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “This will help us protect residents’ health and safety by finding a solution to minimize exposure to these harmful contaminants.”
DEP has identified a former 77.2-acre farm on Brennan Road as the source of the contamination. Property owners removed the drums that contained the harmful chemicals in 1980, but subsequent investigations revealed elevated concentrations of chlorinated solvents in the areas where the drums had been stored.
In 2009, the Bucks County Health Department notified DEP of Trichloroethene (TCE) contamination in wells serving a local restaurant and several homes. Between 2009 and 2011, DEP sampled more than 100 private drinking water wells in the area – finding that chlorinated solvents, TCE, and/or Tetrachloroethene (PCE) exceeded Safe Drinking Water Maximum Contaminant Levels in wells serving 45 homes. DEP subsequently installed carbon filter systems on 42 of those homes.
Indoor air of two residential properties near the contamination source areas was impacted by vapor intrusion (VI). DEP subsequently installed vapor mitigation systems in those homes.
Chlorinated solvents such as Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) are commonly used in circuit board manufacturing, the textile industry, and for the removal of grease from metal parts. PCE is also used for dry cleaning. Chlorinated solvents are among the most common soil and groundwater contaminants. Routes of exposure can include ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact.
Surface water near a small section of Nockamixon State Park – northeast of Haycock Cove, near Park Drive West – was sampled by DEP and found to have slightly elevated TCE results. There are no parking lots or trails in this area of the park.
“Staff at Nockamixon will continue to work with DEP to address this environmental issue, as it is our responsibility as stewards of the Commonwealth’s public lands,” Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) State Parks Director John Hallas said.
The Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act was signed into law in 1988 to provide DEP the funding and authority to address hazardous substances and contaminants in the environment. Placement of a site on the PAPL is used to identify sites that need remedial response decisions to address threats to the public health, safety, or the environment. DEP personnel are currently working on 134 HSCA Sites and are performing operation and maintenance activities at 110 sites. DEP has conducted over 360 HSCA actions in communities across Pennsylvania, cleaning up groundwater, capping or removing contaminated soil, and ensuring thousands of people have access to safe drinking water. A remedial response is an action that will cost more than $2 million dollars and take longer than one year to complete.
DEP is accepting public comments on the listing from January 18, 2025 to February 17, 2025. All written comments and DEP's responses will be placed into the Site file and will later be incorporated into the Administrative Record. More information can be found on DEP’s website. Please submit written comments by mail to Dustin A. Armstrong, Environmental Protection Specialist at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 2 East Main Street, Norristown, PA 19401 or by email darmstrong@pa.gov and include “Nockamixon Public Comment” in the subject of the email.
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