The Clearview Landfill is on both sides of the Darby Creek in both Delaware and Philadelphia Counties. The Clearview landfill operated from the 1950s to the mid 1970s when it was closed. Various businesses have continued to operate on the Clearview Landfill site from the 1970s through present day. The Clearview landfill reportedly accepted a variety of wastes, including municipal, demolition, and hospital. For more information and updates on the Clearview Landfill, please visit the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lower Darby Creek Area website.
Status of the Clearview Landfill:
EPA conducted a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RIFS) for the Clearview Landfill. The Remedial Investigation (RI) consists of sampling soil, water, and air to determine the nature and extent of contamination, as well as developing a human health assessment and ecological assessment. Sampling was conducted from 2002 to 2006. The RI was completed in May 2011, identifying unacceptable risks to human health from groundwater, surface and subsurface soils and fish in Darby and Cobbs Creeks.
Additional investigations were conducted in 2011, the results of which will be added to the final RI in an addendum. Those investigations are:
- A vapor intrusion evaluation in homes adjacent to the landfill was completed in 2011. Some chemicals are in a vapor form and can move through soil and into homes through cracks in walls. No unacceptable risks of vapor intrusion were identified;
- Additional monitoring wells were installed in the winter of 2011 to provide more information on impacts to groundwater;
- A Phase IA Cultural Resources Survey was completed in 2011 to investigate the potential presence of a Revolutionary War graveyard near the landfill.
A Feasibility Study (FS), finalized in October 2012, evaluated various cleanup options for the waste and contaminated soils portion of the Clearview Landfill (referred to as Operable Unit 1 (OU1)).
- An FS Addendum, finalized in May 2013, further evaluated the performance of different types of covers for the landfill.
A Time Critical Removal Action (TCRA) was initiated in November 2011, and completed in September 2012, in the southern portion of the landfill to address soils and wastes contaminated with high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These contaminants pose a risk to local workers on the Site as well as Darby Creek. Removing them lowers the risk that they will move off-site to community locations. More information on the TCRA can be obtained at www.epaosc.org/ldca.
The first RI/FS identified the need for more information, a new investigation focusing on the contaminated groundwater related to the Clearview Landfill (referred to as OU3) was initiated in 2012. Field investigations were conducted in 2013 to determine the extent of contamination in groundwater and the nearby creeks. The RI report for OU3 should be completed in 2015.