PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Bartram’s Garden in Southwest Philadelphia has closed off a popular hiking trail after learning chromium from a nearby industrial site may be leaking into the park.
Andy Switzer was taking his usual walk with his two dogs in April when he noticed something troubling flowing from an old oil refinery near Bartram’s Mile Trail.
“The streambed had an alarming new color to it. It’s a deep, almost Gatorade- or anti-freeze-colored green,” he recalled.
Switzer immediately reported it to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP replied last week, saying two inspections showed chromium in the soil and water on the site, including 400 times the allowable limit in that green surface water he noticed.
Some types of chromium are known to cause cancer, but the DEP told him it couldn’t determine the impact of the runoff, and that the burden to investigate was on the current property owner, real estate investor Alliance HP.
Switzer told Bartram’s Garden of the finding, and Executive Director Maitrey Roy was concerned enough to shut down the trail.
“We’d rather be taking all the precautions at this point because we really don’t know about the health and environmental impacts,” said Roy.
Switzer said he was disturbed that it took three months to get results and no further action was taken.
“Development on the site should be immediately halted pending a more thorough investigation of the presence of toxic substances on the site, and the environmental impact be further studied and shared with the communities of people who live nearby and visit Bartram’s Garden,” he said.
City Councilmember Jaime Gauthier is also angry that she heard about the chromium from Switzer and not the DEP, the Environmental Protection Agency, or the Philadelphia Water Department, all of which Switzer notified back in April.
“There was a breakdown here clearly in that they’ve known about this for several months and taken no action,” she added.
City officials are studying the situation but emphasize there is no threat to drinking water or evidence that the runoff is reaching the Schuylkill River.
In a statement, Alliance HP said, "Addressing the runoff issue into the Schuylkill River at Bartram’s Garden is our highest priority. While we are not the cause of the problem, having purchased the site as an environmental Brownfield, we have been working closely with PA DEP on a remediation strategy as required by state law. To be clear, the issue is not the result of any recent spill, but rather a historic issue that was triggered by the recent heavy rains in the area. DEP experts visited the site again earlier today, and we will continue working with them to stop the runoff and remediate the environmental issues in accordance with Pennsylvania law."
The DEP and EPA have not responded to KYW Newsradio’s requests for comment.