DNREC earns national EPA award for cleanup efforts at contaminated site
Cleanup efforts at the former NVF facility in Yorklyn were celebrated on Wednesday when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented Delaware officials with a national award for excellence and innovation in clean water infrastructure.
Two divisions within the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control earned the EPA’s PISCES award for cleaning up zinc and lead contamination at the former factory site. Only five similar projects nationwide earn the recognition each year.
“Not only does this project clean up the environment, but it also will support redevelopment,” Gov. John Carney said in a press release. “This whole area was once a polluted brownfield site, and because of DNREC’s work, the Yorklyn Fiber Mills District is better equipped to attract more businesses, create jobs and help strengthen our economy.”
The project included creating a two-acre wetland, which is nearly complete, and calls for the construction of four other wetlands in the area. More than $3 million in Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan financing supported the cleanup effort, which removed contaminated soils and replaced them with clean materials. An additional $1 million Water Quality Improvement loan will fund the future wetland construction.
“EPA is proud to have selected this clean water project as one of five rated exceptional in the nation,” said EPA Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “The work at the NVF site will continue to improve water quality in the creek, and enhance the quality of life for residents by protecting this vulnerable area from flooding, and making way for future economic development. It’s an excellent example of the power of partnerships between EPA and the states and communities we serve.”
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About 340,000 pounds of zinc and more than 200 pounds of lead were removed from the soil during a seven-month project that began in late 2016, state officials said.
A groundwater-based treatment system has been operating at the site since 2008, but it would have taken that system nearly 40 years and cost $14 million to remove the same level of contaminants. State officials estimate the loan financing will save taxpayers more than $10 million.
Three trails at the site – the Yorklyn Bridge Trail, the Oversee Trail and the yet-to-be-named CCArts Trail – also were celebrated as state officials toured the site on Wednesday.
“Whether at a federal, state, or local level, we should always be striving to get better results for less money, and the Yorklyn project shows that we can, especially when we are working together,” said Sen. Tom Carper, who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Proud to see that, once again, Delaware is leading by example and finding ways to most effectively utilize taxpayer dollars.”