July 17, 2024
Provided image/Bartram's Garden
Former industrial properties next to Bartram's Gardens may have contaminated the historic Southwest Philadelphia park with hazardous chemicals.
Bartram's Garden has closed a section of its paved trail as environmental officials test the area for possible chemical contamination, officials at the botanic garden in Southwest Philly announced Wednesday.
A statement posted to Bartram's Garden's website states the potential pollution had been reported by a concerned visitor on Monday. The impacted portion of Bartram's Mile Trail was immediately closed. But state and local officials had been informed months earlier by that same visitor, who observed a green liquid running across the path and reported it to the Philadelphia Water Department and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The water department tested material from the site in April and concluded that it was not a naturally occurring substance, according to the statement. Groundwater and soil samples tested by another party and reviewed by DEP also indicated the presence of three different chromium compounds, including hexavalent chromium, a substance known to cause cancer.
Hexavalent chromium is used in the process of chrome plating, as is trivalent chromium, which also was detected at Bartram's Garden. The hexavalent compound is regarded as more toxic and environmentally dangerous, a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found.
Caroline Winschel, director of development and communications for Bartram's Garden, said via email that free public park had "not received any information previously from PA DEP or the Water Department before we reached out this week based on the visitor’s concerns."
That visitor also informed Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who rebuked the departments for their lack of communication.
"I was appalled and angered to learn that state and local agencies were made aware of the possible contamination in April but did not notify my office, Bartram's Garden, or any Southwest Philadelphia neighbors," she said in a statement. "If a constituent did not bring this to our attention, we would not have known and would have been unable to take any action."
The source of the chemical leak was apparently a former petroleum tank farm located north of the Bartram's community boathouse at 51st Street and Botanic Avenue. Though this site is privately owned and not accessible to the public, it is next to Bartram's Garden and its trail. It is also adjacent to the Schuylkill River, prompting concerns about water contamination.
It has not been confirmed whether the chemicals leaked into the river, but city officials insisted that Philadelphia's drinking water would not be affected.
"Any contamination in this area would not impact drinking water because it is in the tidal Schuylkill, below the Fairmount dam," Brian Rademaekers, a public information officer for the Philadelphia Water Department, said via email. "Our Schuylkill intakes are located far above the dam."
Rademaekers did not immediately clarify how the Philadelphia Water Department typically responds to tests indicating unnatural substances.
DEP will be testing the area for concentrations of hazardous chemicals in the coming days, though it's unclear when the testing will begin. Bartram's Garden has pledged to post the results when they are available.
According to DEP, the site's owner has been working with the department for months on a voluntary cleanup of the property following the standards laid out in Act 2 legislation. DEP staff inspected the site twice in the spring after receiving the initial complaint, but no violations were recorded on either visit. After the water department shared its test results, DEP asked the owner of the property to "further investigate the source of the discolored discharge," a department official said via email. Groundwater and soil samples collected by the owner on April 29 and May 30 indicated trivalent and hexavalent chromium were present.
DEP, upon receiving those test results in June, says it then asked the owner for plans to resolve the issue. The property owner pledged to expand ongoing cleanup efforts to include chromium.
The department said that visitors who have walked, ran or ridden a bike on the trail through the contaminated area "are at very low risk of exposure." Still, Gauthier urged her constituents to avoid fishing or kayaking in the area and promised an investigation into the delayed response from city and state officials.
"This potential toxic chemical contamination is just the latest example in a long history of environmental harm inflicted on Southwest," she said. "The fact that for months government failed to act in any way to either understand or clean up any chemicals spilled into this beloved community resource is an injustice. I will be working to understand how and where government safeguards and processes broke down, and how we can prevent anything like this from happening again. Southwest deserves answers and accountability, and I intend to get it.”
This story has been updated with information from DEP.
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