title: Final Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment for the Metal Bank Superfund Site, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Creators: name: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Publisher: name: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/02z5nhe81
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, acting through the Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and the Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) (collectively, the Trustees) have prepared this Final Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment (Final RP/EA) to identify, evaluate, and propose alternatives to restore injured natural resources, including their supporting ecosystems and the services they provide, in order to compensate the public for the injury to natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous substances at and from the Metal Bank Superfund Site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the “Site”). This Final RP/EA was prepared jointly by the Trustees in accordance with Section 111(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its implementing regulations (43 C.F.R. § 11.93). This Final RP/EA describes the Trustees’ restoration planning processes for the natural resources damage assessment (NRDA) and the restoration alternative that the Trustees propose to compensate the public for the natural resource injuries associated with the Site. The Site is located on the western shore of the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to available information, from 1962 to 1985, the Site was used for scrap metal storage. For approximately five years, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, electrical transformer salvage operations were performed at the Site. Some of the salvaged transformers contained oil-bearing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which were released to soils and groundwater at the Site, eventually seeping into the Delaware River and contaminating river surface water and sediment. These releases caused potential injuries to natural resources, including fish, benthic organisms, and benthic habitat. Literature studies indicate that exposure to PCBs at the concentrations observed at the Site can adversely affect biota (e.g., reduced reproductive success). On March 17, 2021, the United States Department of Justice filed notice in the Federal Register of a proposed Settlement Agreement for claims for damages for potential injuries to natural resources resulting from the release of hazardous substances at or from the Site. Following a public comment period, this Settlement Agreement was finalized and executed on November 4, 2021. In the Draft RP/EA, issued in February 2024, the Trustees outlined potential restoration alternatives that could compensate the public for the potential injuries to natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous substances at or from the Site and identified the Trustees’ preferred restoration alternative, which consists of one project on the mainstem Delaware River in Philadelphia at the Tacony Boat Launch. Following a public comment period where no comments were received on the Draft RP/EA, this Final RP/EA is the end step in the restoration planning process.