A community group fighting for environmental justice has been actively concerned about the old Bishop Tube factory in Malvern (Chester County). This has been an unremediated Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program (HSCA), deemed by the PA Department of Environmental Protection. .The local roup has organized to turn this site back into a natural space. For those that don't know the history, the Bishop Tube and Company, Platinum Works processed precious metals and fabricated stainless steel items such as tubing and piping. This facility closed in 1999.

Brian O’Neill, who specializes in ‘cap and develop’ brownfield sites, purchased the land for only $700,000 and wishes to build residences there. This is more than an environmental justice issue for this community who risk being exposed further to Trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination if disturbance of the soil, stream that courses through the site, and groundwater result in exposure via air vapors and water, which was reported in a 2008 report by the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 

There is also evidence that the large TCE plume in the water has traveled a mile downstream (northeast) on its way to the Valley Creek and then Schuylkill River. Shockingly, there is no completion of site assessment by the PA Department of Environmental Protection, and no remediation plan for cleanup.

Facts & Stats

What are the contaminants? The ATSDR reported the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), primarily trichloroethylene and trichloroethane (TCE) in the groundwater underlying the site, as well as heavy metals in the soil and groundwater. TCE, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a clear, colorless, nonflammable liquid that evaporates quickly, that does not occur naturally and is primarily the result of industrial processes. However, the ATSDR report that other chemicals were used there as well, including paints, nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, caustic materials for water treatment, petroleum based oils, coolants, and many other chemicals. Unfortunately, the EPA reported that TCE is found in many drinking water supplies in the U.S. TCE exposure can be associated with neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, developmental toxicity, liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, endocrine effects, and several forms of cancer.

What is the safe exposure level for TCE? The National Institute of Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends an air exposure limit of 2 ppm with a 60-minute ceiling, and 25 ppm over a 10-hour time-weighted average for all other air exposures. The EPA has established regulations for a limit of 5 ppb in drinking water. What level was measured at the Bishop Tube site? A level of 1,900,000 ppb was identified at Bishop Tube.

Resources

• PA Department of Environmental Protection's page on the Bishop Tube site
• East Whiteland Township's page on Bishop Tube Land Development
• April 2018 -- Bishop Tube: Abandoned Toxic Site in Malvern — The Next Townhouse Community? Learn About the Clean-Up Status from Maya van Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper Network

• April 2019 -- Philadelphia Inquirer -- Plan to build housing on contaminated Bishop Tube site in Chester County faces major setback | A board has ruled amendments to an agreement that would have allowed developer Brian O’Neill to build housing on the contaminated Bishop Tube site in Chester County site are “arbitrary and capricious.”

• March 2021 -- WHYY -- Contaminated Chester County site still mired in legal fights over redevelopment plan

 Local Organizing

The community group consists of the neighborhood that borders the Bishop Tube plant, and is joined by Delaware Riverkeeper Network who provides organizational leadership, Valley Forge Trout Unlimited, Chester County Master Watershed Stewards, and the Sierra Club of Southeast Pennsylvania. 

This coalition has made continuous progress over the past year+, despite many challenges, and has informally educated and formally presented to East Whiteland Township. The Township is considering approving the development proposal by Brian O’Neill, as are the Chester County Commissioners, Chester County Planning Commission, our State Senator and  State Representative(s), and the larger community about the dangers of developing this site just because Brian O'Neill intends to build residences there.  O’Neill has recently proposed a plan to reduce development to 93 homes, hoping to cut a deal to permit him to profit from this site. 

 All concerned about the effects on our streams, watershed, and environmental health have joined this effort, and the broader the concern, the more power we have to return this site to a natural land.  Our vision is Bishop Tube – Clean and Green.  This has been the best solution for some contaminated sites – to remediate to the highest standard required by law, and then permit the biogeophysical processes to decontaminate further.