The American Street Tannery Site is located in the Northern Liberties Section of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. The site is within the city block comprised of George, Bodine, American and Widley Streets. The area being investigated includes the site of the former tannery and the residential properties and surrounding homes on Widley Street. The former tannery comprised of a complex of five building that housed different tanneries until 1986. The site was abandoned until 1987 when it was subject to a removal action to stabilize facility of a variety of chemicals including acids, base/neutral, corrosives, toxic, and others. Later in 1990, a fire damaged the buildings. The City of Philadelphia decided to demolish the buildings, but not before vandals broke in and spilled PCB at the site and in the neighborhood. A second removal action took place to cleanup the spilled PCBs. The site was later acquired by Tower Development and redeveloped under PA Act 2 Program. The site is currently owned by Liberty Homes Philadelphia Inc. Residents in proximity of the site have expressed concerns about handling of contaminated soils and chemicals left behind in groundwater.
In December 2005, an NRC report was called in on the former American Street Tannery Site. The site has been redeveloped into a mixed commercial/residential property under the name of Liberty Homes Incorporated. The complaint filed was of an abandoned UST at the site. However, the OSC and Brownfield Coordinator Chris Thomas met with the resident to discuss her concerns. The resident brought up as a concern of mismanagement of soils at the site while it was being redeveloped. The resident also expressed concern on contaminated groundwater intruding in basements of homes adjacent to the redeveloped. ATSDR was contacted directly by the resident to request that a health consult be done at the site. The OSC has met with PADOH, PADEP on the issues surrounding the site. The OSC has also contacted the City of Philadelphia on issues of coordination. The OSC requested an attorney be assigned to this site. A CIC is assigned to the site to help with the neighborhood association and resident coordination.
A removal assessment will be conducted to determine if exposed soils are a threat to human health and the environment. In addition to soils, the OSC will investigate the vapor intrusion pathway in adjacent home because of the presence of chlorinated hydrocarbons in groundwater.
A sampling plan is being developed for the site including soil samples and possible soil vapor and indoor air samples. Further coordination with the current owners is forthcoming. The OSC will contact the residents adjacent to the site to solicit interest and request access to conduct sampling. The OSC will also coordinate with PADEP, City of Philadelphia, PIDC, and Liberty Homes Philadelphia Inc.
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