Valley Forge Park to be cleaned up by Pennsylvania and federal government
For 160 years, part of the Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania was used as a dumping ground by an asbestos insulation manufacturer, Keene Corporation, with permission from the government. Now the 112-acre parcel of land requires extensive cleanup to remove toxic asbestos and other contaminants, including lead, arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Access to the contaminated area has been restricted since 1997 when the asbestos was discovered. An attempt was made to contain the contamination using a sprayed-on encapsulate, but that lasted less than a year before the covering was eroded and the asbestos was once again exposed.
In 2002, Keene Corporation’s successor, Reinhold Industries, agreed to pay $500,000 towards the cost of the cleanup effort, but government agencies could not agree on who would bear the remaining $12 million expense. Recently, a settlement agreement was reached in which the state will pay 60% of the remaining balance and the federal government will pick up the rest of the tab. Three feet of topsoil will be removed from the site and replaced, and the project is expected to take about two years.
Learn more from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
