Redevelopment of this 28-acre brownfield site helped transform York by providing York College with the land needed for future expansion of its campus. The site operated as a corrugated paper mill from the mid-1800s until 2002. HRG performed due diligence activities, which included a review of historical topographic maps, aerial photos, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and property deeds. These resources revealed that in the last 50 years, a portion of the site was used for activities related to the use or storage of petroleum and petroleum-related products.
HRG’s environmental team also conducted site characterization activities beginning in 2006 with emergency response actions to contain an oil-like sheen emanating from the site into the engineered, flood control channel which characterizes the Codorus Creek through the City of York. Containment booms and adsorbent pads were used to contain the sheen. Subsurface investigation did not identify the source of the sheen, which has not reappeared. What followed, however, was the beginning of extensive site characterization activities designed to meet the requirements of Act 2.
The Remedial Investigation included over 100 soil borings, 24 groundwater monitoring wells and 11 test pits installed across the site. Site soils consisted of native material overlain by a variable layer of historic fill material. From 50 to 200 soil samples were analyzed depending on the analytical suite which included metals, volatile/semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and PCBs. Overall soil quality is reflective of the age of the facility and impacts appear to be limited to well defined areas of historical fill.
The overburden/shallow bedrock flow system was mapped with overall flow to the creek reflective of topography. Solution-phase VOCs and SVOCs were substantially limited to a limited portion of the site. The data also exhibited a pattern of rapid horizontal attenuation of dissolved constituents. To more fully characterize the site, a passive soil gas survey and soil vapor sampling tasks were conducted to evaluate potential source areas as well as the potential for vapor intrusion. The Codorus Creek was also studied through the collection of surface water and sediment samples and cross section measurement for flow determination.
The site characterization data facilitated the sale of the site via a Buyer-Seller Agreement. An Act 2 Remedial Investigation Report Risk Assessment and Cleanup Plan were prepared and approved by DEP. The constituents of concern were remediated to a combination of Statewide Health or Site Specific Standards via soil removal in concert with institutional and engineering controls, and a Final Report was submitted to and approved by DEP.
