Calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to act on the complete removal and off-site disposal of the Franklin Slag Pile Superfund Site located on the Bridesburg/Port Richmond Delaware Riverfront.

WHEREAS, The Franklin Slag Pile Site is at the intersection of Castor and Delaware Avenues in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. It is located near the Tioga Marine Terminal along the Delaware River and Interstate 95 in a commercial/industrial area. The site consists of a covered slag pile containing an estimated 68,000 cubic yards of slag that was a byproduct from the copper smelter at the neighboring Franklin Smelting and Refining Corporation. MDC, the operator of the site from the 1950s to 1999, sold the slag as sand blasting grit; and

WHEREAS, The site was added to the National Priorities List of most hazardous waste sites in the country in September 2002, allowing EPA to devote federal resources toward the investigation and cleanup plan. EPA completed a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) in June 2007. EPA will propose a plan for clean-up of the Franklin Slag Pile site in the summer of 2007. After receiving public comment on the proposed clean-up of the slag pile EPA will issue a final clean-up in a Record of Decision (ROD). The ROD is scheduled for issuance in the fall of 2007; and

WHEREAS, The slag pile contains high levels of metals such as lead. Before EPA covered the pile, slag routinely blew off the site and during rain or snow storms there was run-off. The slag pile is covered with a thick plastic cover to prevent any slag from blowing off the property. A security fence is also in place to prevent trespassing or vandalism; and

WHEREAS, The EPA has developed a Proposed Remedial Action Plan for cleaning up the remaining slag at the Franklin Slag Pile and hosted a public meeting and comment period at St. George Parish Hall on July 25, 2007 and explained that the EPA’s preferred course of action would be to cap, re-grade and partially dispose the slag off site while fencing and maintaining the slag pile and conducting 5 year reviews; and

WHEREAS, The EPA proposal is unsatisfactory to the Philadelphia City Council as well as the residents and businesses of the Bridesburg/Port Richmond Delaware Riverfront, and

WHEREAS, A full removal and clean up would involve excavation of slag materials and contaminated soils underneath the slag; transportation and off-site disposal of the contamination to a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act approved landfill; removal and disposal of the current high density polyethylene cover to a non-hazardous landfill; fencing, re-grading and re-vegetation of the site and institutional controls; and now

THEREFORE, The City Council of Philadelphia urges the EPA to recognize the need for full removal and disposal of the Franklin Slag Pile Superfund Site and take this Resolution with serious consideration when making the final cleanup decision in October 2007.

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