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The Delaware Project > Potential Contaminant Sources

Potential Contaminant Sources

The urban Delaware Estuary in the Greater Philadelphia region was the former center of the industrial revolution and continues as a major industrial region. The area is also highly populated and developed. The legacy of these activities has resulted in contaminants being considered among the top ten management issues in the Delaware Estuary (Kreeger et al 2006).

Information on many contaminated sites and potential contaminant sources in the Delaware Estuary is presented in the following sections:

• NOAA OR&R Waste Sites
  
• Brownfields
  
• New Jersey's Delaware River Initiative
  

Watershed-Wide Data

Information on watershed-wide as well as site-specific sources of contamination is available from a variety of data sources. Watershed-wide data are available from the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), NOAA's National Status & Trends (NS&T) program, EPA, and from state programs. The focus on contaminants in this project is on toxic chemical contaminants (e.g., petroleum related compounds, pesticides, and heavy metals). Unconventional contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals), nutrients and biological pathogens are also contaminants in the Delaware Estuary.

To complement site-specific investigations and for restoration planning, watershed-wide data are obtained and reviewed. This information is used to coordinate site investigations at individual sites within a regional context, help facilitate the remedial decision-making process, and integrate restoration opportunities into remedial efforts. The Delaware River Toxics Reduction Program (DelTRip) is an ongoing effort, led by DRBC, that is collecting information from specific waste sites in the area.

Waste Sites

By partnering with EPA and the states and working as a Natural Resource Trustee under CERCLA, NOAA is working on many sites that have been identified as potential sources of contamination to the watershed including the National Priority Listed (NPL) sites, DuPont Newport (DE), Koppers Co. Newport Plant (DE), Army Creek Landfill (DE), Standard Chlorine (DE), Lower Darby Creek (PA), Bridgeport Rental and Oil Services (NJ), Chemical Leaman (NJ), Roebling Steel (NJ), Route 561 Dump (NJ), Sherwin Williams/Hilliards Creek (NJ), United States Avenue Burn (NJ), and Matteo & Sons, Inc. (NJ). NOAA is also working on the DuPont Chambers Works Site (NJ) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) program.

There are numerous other sites that are state-lead sites and/or are in voluntary remediation programs. Of note are nine of the 10 sites identified in the New Jersey Delaware River Initiative, including the Former Lail Property. The tenth site, Matteo & Sons, Inc., is an NPL site, as noted above.

Oil Spills

Thousands of incidents occur each year in which oil or chemicals are released into the environment as a result of accidents or natural disasters. Spills into our coastal waters, whether accidental or intentional, can harm people and the environment and cause substantial disruption of marine transportation with potential widespread economic impacts. NOAA provides scientific expertise 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to support incident response for oil spills and helps initiate natural resource damage assessment.

NOAA is currently working with federal and state trustee agencies regarding restoration planning for the Athos I Oil Spill, which severely impacted Delaware River shoreline in late November, 2004, and the more recent Bermuda Islander (April 25, 2006) and International Petroleum Corp. (IPC) (July 15, 2006) Oil Spills. Restoration from the June 24, 1989 Presidente Rivera Oil Spill is ongoing. Information on many of these cases can be accessed at http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/northeast/index.html, with updates regarding all cases impacting the Delaware River to be available in the near future.

Point and Non-Point Source Contamination

Point sources that are permitted discharges are being evaluated by the Delaware River Basin Commission's Toxics Advisory Committee. In particular there has been an effort to establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for PCBs. (DRBC: Toxics - PCBs Information )

Non-point sources of contamination are a significant source of contamination to the Delaware Estuary. In general, the strength of non-point sources of contamination increases as development occurs and as the buffering capacity is lost. The buffering capacity has been severely reduced in the estuary by the loss of tidal wetlands and riparian buffers. Habitat restoration efforts as well as environmentally responsible development and re-development efforts are important in addressing non-point sources of contamination to the estuary.

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