Excessive levels of chromium, a toxin, were found along a now-closed part of Bartram’s Mile Trail, tests show

Officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said during a virtual meeting Wednesday night that levels of hexavalent chromium, a known toxin, were found on four locations along or off Bartram’s Mile in Southwest Philadelphia, which has been closed since July 15 over concerns of possible contamination.

However, officials from the DEP, state Department of Health and Philadelphia Water Department stressed that the public had not been at risk. The trail remains closed and the DEP will continue to monitor it and is working with the owner of the industrial property where the polluted, greenish runoff was first spotted by a trail user in April.

The officials made a presentation during a town hall meeting hosted by State Rep. Regina Young, a Democrat whose district includes the impacted area.

Brian Rademaekers, a spokesperson for the PWD, said that nearby workers, trail users or children playing in the area would have needed to ingest the soil or runoff over extended periods to suffer any ill effects.

Several hundred feet of the 1.5-mile Bartram’s Trail that runs to Bartram’s Garden along the Schuylkill has been closed in the area of 51st Street and Botanic Avenue, adjacent to the former 51st Street Terminal. The site, a former petroleum tank farm, is now enrolled in a brownfield cleanup program with the state. The tanks have been removed.

The property is owned by Alliance 51st Street LLC, which is based at Alliance HP, a real estate firm based in Bryn Mawr. Alliance, which purchased the property in 2021, has worked with the DEP to address the issue, officials said.

Robert Page, a DEP manager, said discharges from the property drained downhill during storms, carrying sediment onto the trail. The greenish-yellow discharges, initially spotted in April, had flowed under a gap under a round flexible tube known as a filtersock that had been serving as a barrier. The issue with the filtersock has been addressed and an additional rock filter was added, and berms have been installed to keep water on the site.

The DEP also said it plans to make unannounced site inspections to ensure that Alliance keeps up with “best management practices.”

It was unclear where the chromium, a known carcinogen, came from, given that it had not been detected on the property before June 10, when it turned up in a test conducted by Alliance. The DEP received the results July 11.

The property had been used as an industrial site for 100 years before Alliance purchased it, and a former tank farm had already been removed.

The discharge and runoff was spotted April 5 by resident Andy Switzer who lives near the trail and reported the issue. He chastised the DEP, however, saying it was only after he notified Bartram’s Gardens officials in July that the test results showing contamination were made public and the trail was closed. Switzer also said he does not think the agencies involved “have the data to support” statements that the discharge was never a public threat. He’s also seen dust clouds from construction at the site.

Dave Brown, who manages environmental cleanups at brownfields for the DEP, said 11 soil samples were collected July 22 from public areas along the trail, and four surface water samples from the Schuylkill. Some sediment on the trail had already been removed by Alliance.

“When we got these results in June, it became apparent that there was a bigger concern here,” Brown said. “This wasn’t just a green dye or something innocuous. This was chromium, which is a toxic substance.”

The tests showed no pollution in the Schuylkill.

» READ MORE: Bartram’s Garden closes trail because of ‘potential chemical contamination’ nearby

However, four samples from along the trail area exceeded a residential cleanup standard of 37 parts per million. The highest level detected was 77 parts per million, Brown said.

One sample of lead showed 460 parts per million, in excess of a residential standard of 450 parts per million. Officials said that is common in an urban area and presented little risk. In addition, two samples of arsenic exceeded the residential cleanup standard, but the DEP and the Department of Health said it did not present much public health risk.

Officials began a cleanup of the area from July 18 to 22 to remove any sediment on Bartram’s Trail and it was placed on the property in a drum. The DEP said more soil needs to be cleaned along the trail.

“The goal of tonight is to put people’s minds at ease,” Young said, in response to residents present at the virtual meetings about the safety of workers in the area, and the possibility of contaminated dust produced from cleanup.

Maitreyi Roy, executive director of nearby Bartram’s Garden, also asked whether groundwater from the property flows in the direction of the popular public garden.

“We’d like to know if any of the chromium has leaked into areas around Bartram’s Garden,” Roy said.

Officials responded that they were continuing to collect samples in the area to determine whether any other areas beyond the trail were impacted.

Roy said the trail would remain closed until additional testing and monitoring can be carried out to make sure the chromium didn’t spread elsewhere. Officials also want to observe runoff from the site during storms.

Randy Hayman, commissioner and CEO of the PWD, said that “early on we found out that the water did not enter our system. And so, as a result, at no time were the customers or the residents affected or had any risk of receiving water less than the high quality that we promised to provide them daily.”

Young addressed a question by Philadelphia Councilmember Jamie Gauthier surrounding the timing of the official response, given that runoff from the 51st Street Terminal site was first spotted in April.

After it was reported, the DEP inspected the site and began working with Alliance to address it.

Young said that communication, however, had broken down.

“The line of communication was broken and it needs to be revisited,” Young said.