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Bishop Tube

This page was last updated on September 22, 2022

Site Facts

Location: Malin Road, south of U.S. Route 30, East Whiteland Township, Chester County
HSCA Site Since: 1999
Primary Contaminant of Concern: Trichloroethene (TCE) its breakdown products, and heavy metals, among other contaminants of concern, have been detected in soil, surface water, groundwater and indoor air at the Site
Historical Use: Stainless steel tubes were manufactured from the 1950’s until 1999
Previous Property Owners and Operators: Johnson Matthey Inc. (previously known as J. Bishop, Matthey Bishop) , Whittaker Corporation, Christiana Metals Corporation, Alloy Steel Corporation, Marcegaglia USA, Central & Western Chester County Industrial Development Authority
Current Property Owner: Constitution Drive Partners L.P. (CDP)
Listing: On September 11, 2010 DEP facilitated the future Remedial Response action(s) as defined in HSCA by placing the Site to Pennsylvania’s Priority List of Hazardous Sites for Remedial Response (“PAPL”)

Remedial Response Action

  • DEP’s responsibility under the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (“HSCA”) (35 P.S. §§ 6020.102-6020.1303), is to select a remedy that is protective of human health and the environment and complies with all statutory and regulatory requirements.
  • DEP under the authority of the HSCA, selected a remedial response action at the Site to address soil, groundwater, surface water, and a residential drinking water supply that have been contaminated by chlorinated solvents and/or inorganic contaminants of concern (“COCs”).
  • The Site consists of areas of groundwater, soil, and surface water contamination. Groundwater contamination at the Site affects properties located along South Malin Road, Lancaster Avenue (US Rt. 30), Conestoga Road (PA Rt. 401), Morehall Road (PA Rt. 29), and Village Way. The sources of the contaminated groundwater and surface water and areas of contaminated soil are located on the 13.7-acre former Bishop Tube property (“Source Property”), currently owned by CDP.
  • TCE is considered the primary Site-related COC because its concentrations within soil, groundwater, and surface water are generally higher than other chlorinated solvents, although there are other hazardous substances and contaminants that are COCs. Additionally, TCE has migrated further in groundwater than the other COCs released at the Site. Since a public water supply is available within the entire Site boundary, vapor intrusion (“VI”) is anticipated to be the most significant exposure pathway. DEP plans to divide the Site into three operable units (“OUs”) and to remediate the Site to a combination of residential Act 2 standards, including background, Statewide health, and site-specific, based on the anticipated end use of the Source Property.
  • DEP’s selected remedy includes In Situ Chemical Oxidation and/or In Situ Chemical Reduction (“ISCO/ISCR”), coupled with soil mixing to address unsaturated and saturated soils impacted by Site COCs; in situ injection of ISCO, ISCR or bioremediation amendments in the two primary chlorinated solvent source areas to address contaminated groundwater with engineering, and/or institutional controls, and long-term monitoring; and connection of the residence with an impacted domestic well to the existing public water line.
  • In combination, implementation of these selected alternatives would protect public health and the environment and address potential exposure pathways by using engineering controls and institutional controls, connecting a home with a private well to the public waterline, reducing COC migration across the source property boundary, reducing migration and diffuse discharge of COCs to Little Valley Creek, and hastening retraction of the groundwater contaminant plume by reducing source concentrations of COCs in soil and groundwater.
  • Implementation of these alternatives will be designed and implemented in a complimentary manner to avoid potential negative interactions, comport with the protections afforded under Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, comply with Applicable, or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (“ARARs”), and avoid negative impacts to Little Valley Creek. The total estimated present value cost of the proposed final remedial response action is $8.1M.

Administrative Record/Public Comment

What's Next

  • DEP will plan a public meeting about the implementation of the response action on a date to be determined in the coming months.
  • Planning for additional pre-design investigation activities.

Pre-Design Investigations

  • August 24, 2021 - Soil Investigation for Certain Inorganic Constituents and Groundwater Investigation for VOCs and Certain Inorganic Constituents (PDF) Submitted by Roux Associates, Inc. on behalf of Johnson Matthey, Inc. and Whittaker to report results of soil sampling completed in May 2021 and groundwater sampling performed in June 2021. (This document was included in Part II of the Administrative Record for the Site but was not considered during preparation of the AOA.) Soil sampling was conducted to follow up prior detections of inorganic parameters and groundwater sampling was performed to evaluate VOC concentrations across the site area.
  • January 28, 2022 - Recent Regulatory Updates and Laboratory Data Package Correction (PDF) - Submitted by Roux Associates, Inc. on behalf of Johnson Matthey Inc. and Whittaker to acknowledge updates to Pennsylvania Code, Title 25, Chapters 93 and 250 and to provide updated laboratory analytical data for a soil sample collected in May 2021. The update resulted from an internal audit performed by Roux’s analytical subcontractor.
  • April 1, 2022 - PFAS Sampling Results (PDF) – Sampling of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) conducted by Roux Associates, Inc. on behalf of Johnson Matthey Inc. and Whittaker.

Timeline

= Completed Steps,  = Current Step,  = Next Steps

Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) 1/13/2021
Remedial Response Action Proposal 9/24/2021
Public Hearing 11/9/2021
Response to Public Comments 9/8/2022
Signature of the Statement of Decision (SOD) 9/12/2022
Closing of the Administrative Record 9/21/2022
Public Meeting Est. Fall 2022
Pre-Remedial Design Investigation Work Plan Est. Spring 2023
Pre-Remedial Design Investigation Activities Est. Summer/Fall2023
Remedial Design (RD) - During the Remedial Design phase, the plans for the cleanup method are carefully designed. The Remedial Design is based on the cleanup method described in the SOD. TBD
Remedial Action (RA) - The Remedial Action (RA) starts the actual cleanup at a site. TBD
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Activities TBD

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Evaluations

April 6, 2016: ATSDR letter (PDF)
July 16, 2008: ATSDR Evaluation (PDF)

East Whiteland Twp

  • East Whiteland Township has been awarded a Technical Evaluation Grant (TEG) pursuant HSCA. The TEG provides up to $50,000 for conducting an independent technical evaluation of a proposed remedial response at a HSCA site.
  • East Whiteland Township maintains a website for this Site: Bishop Tube Land Development | East Whiteland Township, PA

Community Updates

To subscribe to updates, please send an email to: RA-EP-SEROECB@pa.gov. Please indicate in the subject line or text of the email that you’d like to receive updates related to the Bishop Tube HSCA Site.

Contacting DEP

To schedule an appointment to review files associated with the Bishop Tube site and project, please call the Norristown Office at 484-250-5910.
Please direct correspondence or inquiries to one of the following: