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Ground Breaking for Redevelopment at Superfund Site in Montgomery County

Release Date: 8/30/1999
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith (215) 814-5543 & Richard Kuhn (215) 814-3063

WORCESTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- An agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a Techni-Tool, Inc. affiliate has lead to the redevelopment of a Superfund site. Today, the North Penn Area 12 Superfund site reaches a major milestone -- a ground breaking for the construction of a modern office and distribution facility.

The agreement, known as a prospective purchaser agreement, relieves Techni-Tool from liability for existing contamination on the site. Techni-Tool, headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., owns 26 acres of the North Penn Area 12 site, Worcester Township, in Montgomery County.

"Today’s ground breaking symbolizes EPA’s partnership with states, local agencies and the private sector to not only clean these sites to protect human health and the environment, but to redevelop them to benefit communities," said W. Michael McCabe, Regional Adminstrator.

Under Superfund law, landowners, operators, waste generators and transporters responsible for hazardous contamination are liable for its cleanup. EPA negotiates prospective purchaser agreements to protect new owners or lessees from liability for existing contamination -- in return for public benefit and the buyer’s cooperation in cleanup efforts. These agreements are can play a significant role in re-use or redevelopment of Superfund properties.

Since 1952, several owners have manufactured electronic motors at the site under the name of Transicoil, Inc. The company stored waste oil and solvents in an underground tank, and allegedly disposed of spent solvents in the septic system and directly on the ground.

The North Penn Area 12 site was placed on EPA’s Superfund cleanup list in 1990 because groundwater was contaminated with volatile organic compounds from this alleged waste disposal at the former Transicoil, Inc., property and a Nike Missile Battery installation operated by the U.S. Army between 1954 and 1968.

In cooperation with EPA, the parties allegedly liable for the contamination are monitoring potentially affected wells and installing an extension of the public water line that will connect over 125 nearby residents by December. They are also designing a groundwater treatment system with construction scheduled for completion by early 2001.