United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Community Update September 2009
Crossley Farm Superfund Site
Huffs Church, Berks County, Pennsylvania
~ OU-2 Design Phase Completed --
OU-2 Cleanup Design Completed
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working with the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (PADEP) to clean up groundwater contamination at the Crossley Farm Superfund Site
located near Huffs Church in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
The Remedial Design Phase of the Superfund process for the Operable Unit-2 (OU-2) Amendment is completed.
This fact sheet provides a summary of the groundwater cleanup design and announces an upcoming Community
Briefing, where EPA representatives can provide details on the design plans and answer questions or concerns
residents may have about the project.
EPA's cleanup plan will address the groundwater contamination in the Valley Plume area at the bottom of
Blackhead Hill (see Map 1). To achieve cleanup goals,
the remedy is divided into five components, which are:
1) Interception and Containment,
2) Treatment,
3) Discharge,
4) Institutional Controls, and
5) Long-Term Monitoring and Five-Year Reviews.
Community Briefing
EPA will hold a community briefing for
residents who would like to discuss the
design details or may have questions or
concerns about the project.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
at the
Washington Elementary School
located at 1406 on Route 100
in Barto, Pennsylvania
Map 1: Dotted line indicates Valley Plume area.
Solid line indicates extent of contamination area.
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Design Summary
1) Interception and Containment
This component involves:
S Installing 10 - 12 new extraction wells
in the Valley Plume area where the
groundwater of TCE
(trichloroethylene) contamination is
greater than 1,000 parts per billion
(ppb). (See Map on page 3).
-S Monitoring groundwater conditions,
using multiple monitoring wells, for at
least six months to determine the
effectiveness in intercepting and
containing the groundwater plume.
•S Pumping groundwater at a rate of
approximately 1,000 gallons per
minute (gpm). The pumping rate may
change depending on the monitoring
results.
2) Treatment.
EPA contractors will construct an on-site
treatment plant and an electrical control
station. The groundwater treatment plant will
be approximately 70 feet by 115 feet in size
and 18 feet tall, located along Dairy Lane. The
electrical control structure will be an estimated
5 feet by 10 feet in size, located along Dale
Road. Both structures will be located on the
Crossley Farm property.
The extraction wells will pump the
groundwater through an underground pipe into
the treatment system. Treatment will include:
S Filtration,
•S Air Stripping and Off-Gas Treatment,
•S Activated Carbon Adsorption.
Groundwater will be pumped through filter
units to remove filterable solids. The filtered
water will then flow through air strippers for
the removal of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs). Activated carbon adsorption units
consisting of two carbon columns will be used
to treat the water after air stripping so that any
residual organic compounds can be adsorbed
by the carbon. Then, the treated water from
the carbon columns will flow through a
sediment filter to remove fine carbon particles,
if any. Finally, the treated water will flow into
a holding tank so that the water can be
discharged under controlled conditions.
Air from the air stripper units will also be
treated. The air will go through an exhaust
heater first, and then through a vapor phase
carbon adsorption system.
3) Discharge
The treated water will exit the treatment plant
into infiltration galleries and ponds located
adjacent to the unnamed tributary that leads to
the Perkiomen Creek. Some treated water may
also be discharged directly into the Perkiomen
Creek.
An infiltration gallery is an underground drain,
constructed and designed to return treated
water back to the aquifer using underground
pipes, sand and gravel. When the water table
is high along the tributary, treated water may
also flow over the surface. An underground
pipe to the creek may also be used to
supplement the discharge gallery, when
necessary.
The treated water will be sampled on a regular
basis before it is discharged. Chemical
sampling and temperature measurements will
be conducted once a day for the first week,
every other day for the next two weeks, and
then twice a month for the duration of the
Remedial Action. There will also be
temperature probed in the Perkiomen Creek
and the discharge tributary, which will
measure and record the temperature in the
creek throughout the remediation.
4) Institutional Controls
Institutional Controls will involve restrictions
on the use of the contaminated groundwater.
In this case, no new private wells will be
permitted to be installed within the
contaminated groundwater plume.
Contaminated groundwater located at the
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Crossley Farm Superfund Site property will
also not be permitted to be used, unless
treatment units are installed and maintained by
the private well owner. EPA will not install or
maintain any new private well treatment units.
5) Long-term Monitoring and Five-Year
Reviews
Long-term monitoring for OU-2 will involve
conducting periodic sampling from on-site and
selected off-site wells and surface water
locations to evaluate the effectiveness of the
cleanup efforts. Surface water samples will
also be taken downstream from the extraction
well area and discharge area, to help determine
if there are any effects of water withdrawal
and/or discharge on the West Branch of the
Perkiomen Creek. Sampling will check for:
-S Migration of any site-related
contaminants;
•S Changes in concentration levels; and
•S Potential effects to the West Branch of
the Perkiomen Creek from the treated
discharged water.
Long-term monitoring is set to be performed
over a period of 30 years; collecting samples
from approximately 50 locations. These
samples will be collected periodically, based
on site conditions.
The estimated cost for this project is $10
million. This estimate may change as work
progresses.
Map 2 shows the location of the extraction
well system and the general location of the
discharge areas.
Next Steps
Now that the cleanup design is completed, the
next phase in the Superfund process is
Remedial Action. This autumn, EPA
contractors will begin construction of the
pump-and-treat system, and begin installing
the extraction wells.
Map 2: Estimated locations of extraction wells.
Map not to scale.
Approximate Proposed
Extraction Well Locations
Approximate Proposed
Discharge Locations
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Brief Site Background
o The Site is approximately 200 acres of
farmland. A portion of the land was
once used for dumping various wastes,
resulting in a TCE-contaminated
groundwater plume.
o The Site's operable units are:
• OU-1: point-of-entry carbon
treatment units on contaminated
residential wells (currently state-
led); and
• OU-2: regional groundwater
contamination and onsite soils.
o Cleanup activities included a TCE
Vapor Intrusion Assessment and
Removal Action in 2007. EPA
installed ventilation systems, similar to
the systems used for radon, in two
residences.
While designing the "Hot-Spot" remedy, EPA
decided that the planned cleanup method alone
would not be effective at preventing the
continued migration of contaminated
groundwater. EPA decided to include an
additional step, which is the OU-2 Design
Phase summary discussed in this fact sheet.
As mentioned at the Proposed Plan Public
Meeting in June 2007, this OU-2 Record of
Decision (ROD) Amendment does not replace
the 2001 OU-2 ROD regarding the "Hot Spot"
Area. Rather, it will supplement the original
plan by also addressing the Valley Plume
Area.
For More Information
This fact sheet, and other site-related
documents, including the full design report,
called "Groundwater Remedial Action Design
for Valley Plume Area Basis of Design Report:
Crossley Farm Site, " are available on EPA's
website at:
www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/
PAD981740061/index.htm.
If you have further questions, please contact:
Roy Schrock,
Remedial Project Manager
(215) 814-3210 or schrock.roy@epa.gov
Trish Taylor,
Community Involvement Coordinator,
(215) 814-5539 or tavlor.trish@epa.gov
Crossley Farm Superfund Site OU-2 Design Phase Completed
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 3
Arm: Trish Taylor
1650 Arch Street (3HS52)
Philadelphia, PA 19103
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