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Hamburg Kaercher Creek Site

 
Site Contact:
Todd Richardson
On Scene Coordinator

(richardson.todd@epa.gov)

Site Location:
Intersection of Pine and Church Street
Hamburg, PA 19562
 response.epa.gov/HamburgKaercherFieldhouse

A battery manufacturing facility operated in the Borough of
Hamburg from 1920 to the mid 1990s. During operations, battery casings were split open and the lead plates inside the batteries were removed for resmelting. The battery casings were reused as ground fill material and deposited throughout the Hamburg area.

Kaercher Creek is listed as a warm-water fishery and ranges in width from 3 to 10 feet and in depth from 1 to 3 feet (Roy F. Weston, Inc. 2000). The creek banks vary from 2 to 20 feet high throughout the Borough of Hamburg, which contains industrial, commercial, and residential zones and is located in rural northeast Pennsylvania. Kaercher Creek flows through the Borough of Hamburg and the Price Battery facility property before it joins the Schuylkill River southwest of Hamburg.

In October 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was notified of the presence of battery casings along Kaercher Creek near the Hamburg Field House. In 2002, Tetra Tech EM Inc., under the direction of the EPA On-Scene Coordinator, performed removal assessments along Kaercher Creek from Kaercher Lake to Kaercher Creek’s confluence with the Schuylkill River. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reviewed the site assessment reports and issued a Health Consultation that recommended an immediate Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act removal action to protect human health.

In May 2003, EPA approved funding for a removal action at the Hamburg – Kaercher Creek site. EPA remediated a total of 5,470 feet of Kaercher Creek during the Hamburg – Kaercher


Creek removal action. Exide Corporation completed remediation of Kaercher Creek at the Price Battery facility.

On-site cleanup activities included excavating contaminated sediment and soil, transporting the lead-contaminated soil off site for disposal, and capping remaining areas of contamination. Soil capping activities included backfilling with clean soil, fertilizing and seeding the area with native grass seed, mulching with straw, and planting trees and shrubs as appropriate. Sediment capping activities included installing geotextile fabric and backfilling with rip rap stone.

Removal Activities associated with the 2003 - 2004 EPA lead clean-up, were completed in December 2004. However, in 2017, during an ecological assessment of Kaercher creek, EPA remedial program contractors (CDM Federal) reported finding significant areas of erosion on the banks of Kaercher Creek adjacent to the Hamburg Fieldhouse and parking lot. EPA's remedial program (RPM, John Banks) then notified the removal program (OSC, Todd Richardson) of the erosion issues on the banks of Kaercher Creek. In May of 2018, EPA OSC Richardson, along with Dean Maser (Weston Solutions, START) conducted and initial assessment of the erosion damaged creek bank. During the assessment several areas of erosion were observed with visible battery casings and lead concentrations around 2600 - 2800ppm.


Hydro-seeding the area adjacent to the parking lot. View of backfill clay after being compacted with a sheep's foot roller. Foundry seen in background. Corrugated plastic storm drain outfall and field house shown. Corrugated metal outfall pipe. The concrete block retaining wall and shade structure are shown. Excavating the last section of creek bank. This is the western most point of bank removed. Removing a stump from around utility guide wire. Excavating around utility poles. view showing the last manhole with vent and cleanout for field house. Excavation showing new shade structure and foundry. View is looking west The shade structure completed. Concrete block retaining wall shown. Boring holes for support post to construct a shade structure. This is so the foundry employees have a shady break area since all the trees were removed. Excavation up to foundry access door. Drain pipe to be installed shown. Excavating bank adjacent to field house. Dozer spreading backfill. Excavating through a dense stand of underbrush on bank. Removing stump from bank. Newly installed concrete apron around storm drain. Newly formed frame around storm water drain. Backfill clay being delivered to bank for spreading. Extension put on corrugated outfall pipe from storm drain in parking lot. View of raised manhole and temporary poly sheeting on bank. Excavating creek bank approaching field house. Excavating the grassy area in parking lot. View of creek bank excavation looking west. View looking east upstream showing dam in background and yellow turbidity curtain in foreground. Excavator in creek adjacent to dam. The sediment pile being removed from creek using two excavators. Dam blocking creek with pump set up. The pile of sediment shown will be removed. Vactor truck used for removing loose sediment. Small excavator in the portion of diverted creek bed. Two diesel pumps used for diverting creek. Discharge hoses for creek flow diverting. Crews setting up dam to divert creek flow. Sediment needs to be removed over approximately 175' of creek bed. The new apron around storm drain. Treating soil with stabilizer at the command post area. Pouring new apron around storm water drain. Excavating activities looking west. The field house and foundry are seen in background. South bank section after restoration activities. Excavating the south bank section. Crossing creek on bridge of logs. This was to access a small area on the south bank that qualified for removal. Excavating at creek's edge. Yellow turbidity shown. Excavation west of training building being backfilled with clay. View looking east. Loading truck for soil to be transported to the command post area for stockpiling and treating. Excavation showing the entrance to the field house parking lot. View looking north. Excavation, creek and coffer dam. Loading truck, view looking west. Snow pile from parking lot clearing operations. View of creek looking west after recent snow storm. Overview of site after recent snow looking east. Overview of excavation looking north. Overview of excavation from parking lot looking south. Bank excavation showing training building and bank with revetment stone. Coffer dam with completed excavation. Backfilling with clay on creek bank. Barrier fabric placed directly behind (south) of the new HFD training building. The creek bank excavation covered and secured with poly sheeting for holiday break. Loading same stump onto truck for transport to command post area. Using excavator and cables a large stump is removed. This is the first measurable snow for the season. The sanitary sewer manhole with 2RC stone backfilled around it. An unusual blue-green substance discovered during excavation activities. It screened in the % range on the XRF. Collecting sediment samples for laboratory and ex-situ analysis. Spreading a load of asphalt in front of the training building. A de-watering pit installed next to the area in front of the training building to be covered with asphalt. Adding soil stabilizer, Enviroblend, which will bind with the lead and greatly reduce its ability to leach out. This will allow us to send it off site as non-regulated. Relocating the pump. Excavation approaching manhole for sanitary sewer. Looking west is the new HFD training building Loading contaminated soil onto truck for transport back to the command post area for staging. Turbidity curtain installed down stream from excavation. This will trap any fugitive sediment that may get through the coffer dam. Smaller excavator removing soil at the creek edge with coffer dam showing. View of newly installed rock check dam. Excavator gaining access to creek to install rock check dam down stream from excavation. Installing 24 Various stages of the bank restoration process looking east. Tri axle dump trucks being loaded for off site disposal. The stock piles are at the command post area. View of excavation and restored area looking east. Battery box with plates still inside. Lead slag in the mold of a crucible. View of excavation. The rocks shown are actually lead slag chunks. Pump set up with coffer dam. Orange barrier fabric installed prior to backfilling. View of revetment stone pile next to HFD training building. The Hamburg Field house is seen in background. View of excavation looking east from creeks edge. View of turbidity curtain installed downstream (west) of the rock check dam. Mini excavator removing soil along creek. The creek bank is getting longer and the large excavator cannot reach the bottom. View of rock check dam just downstream (west) of excavation. View looking east showing completed area and excavated area. Excavation, pump and coffer dam. View looking west of excavation and coffer dam. The PCB material roll-off leaving for proper disposal. Site dump truck being loaded with contaminated soil to be transported to command post area for off-site disposal. Mini excavator down at the creeks edge during the rock check dam installation. Large excavator supporting it. View of soil washed up against the jersey barrier coffer dam after tropical rains. View of restored area after hydroseed has sprouted. View of extension installed for the Hamburg MUA. This is the second of two that were installed this month. Backfill clay being deposited onto orange barrier fabric. View of excavation and field house parking lot. View of excavation at creek and bank interface showing coffer dam. View of battery debris in excavator. It is loaded with chips, grids, caps and posts. This material typically screens at the % level lead. View of the western most manhole excavated to assist the Hamburg MUA personnel in installing an extension. Placing backfill clay into excavation. Placing asphalt in former grassy area protrusions. Newly installed concrete apron around storm drain inlet. Sealing the asphalt edges around the newly paved former grassy protrusions. The NE flat area shown after restoration. Orange barrier fabric placed in one of the grassy protrusions with 2RC stone being placed in it. The first grassy protrusion excavation complete. Excavation the first of four grassy protrusions into parking lot. Storm drain inlet showing the remains of the broken concrete apron. Orange barrier fabric placed in excavation with outfall pipe and coffer dam showing. Storm drain outfall pipe after excavation around it complete. Excavating around storm drain outfall pipe. Relocating pump Excavation adjacent to parking lot. Excavation in flat area with Pine Street in background. Excavation in the NE flat area. Pine Street is to the right and parking lot in background. Drum removed from excavation. Cloro-n-soil tests revealed less than 50ppm PCB. Cloro-n-soil test kit showing less than 50 ppm PCB Skid steer with rock sifting attachment Hydroseed on restored area Leading edge of excavation covered with poly for an extended period of downtime due to the Corona virus pandemic. Orange barrier fabric placed on excavation floor in both creek bank and flat area. The action level not met and the barrier fabric is a deterrent to future digging. Excavation side wall at parking lot. View is looking north. Dozer spreading clay in excavation flat area between parking lot and creek bank. View of excavation going right up to the coffer dam. The grayish material in the excavator bucket is fine crushed battery debris which is typically in the % range for lead. View looking east showing excavator, pump and next section of bank to be removed. View looking east showing hydroseeded flat area between creek bank and parking lot. View of Hamburg Borough contractors re-lining the sewer line. They use steam and pressure and a polystyrene liner. The polystyrene liner expands inside the pipe under steam pressure to the size of the pipe. Uncovering manhole for Hamburg Borough contractors to have access. The sewer line is being re-lined. View of completed are looking east showing top-soiled area, straw matting and grass seed starting to sprout. View looking west showing coffer dam, leading edge of excavation, clay backfill, geotextile fabric, and revetment stone. View looking east showing Pine Street and the restored flat area adjacent to the creek. View of two stock piles. The left pile is classified as hazardous and the right as non-hazardous. This photo was taken during sorting operations Excavation showing Hamburg FD building and storage conex box. Excavation with pump and coffer dam. Excavation adjacent to the parking lot showing the equipment storage conex box. Installing barrier fabric in excavation since the action level was not met. Leading edge of excavation showing the barrier fence put down during the response twenty years ago. Excavation adjacent to parking lot. Leading edge of excavation showing pump and coffer dam. Backfill clay in excavation adjacent to the parking lot. Excavation adjacent to the field house parking lot. Another view of excavation showing stone and fabric. Storm water discharge pipe with revetment stone and fabric. Excavation around storm water discharge pipe with coffer dam and suction hose from pump. Looking north with view of completed area. Pine Street Bridge was the beginning point. Spreading backfill clay on flat area. Coffer dam shown and Pine Street Bridge. Creek with coffer dam, revetment stone and fabric prior to revetment stone placement. Removing stump from creek bank. Looking north the Pine Street Bridge is in the background. Loading stump onto truck. Completed area of creek bank with next section showing backfill clay. Coffer dam in Kaercher Creek. Excavation showing pump and filter box with discharge point. First section of completed creek bank revetment showing the Pine Street Bridge. Installing coffer dam in Kaercher Creek prior to excavation. Excavation at staging area with excavator awaiting a truck on stone access road. Access road to excavation using 3 Backfilling excavation adjacent to Pine Street and Kaercher Creek. Excavating area by staging area at east end of parking lot. Rolling backfill clay in area adjacent to Pine Street Battery shards in excavator bucket at east end. Test pit in east end showing vein of battery debris. Battery case on creek bank. Battery case in creek Sample processing trailer. Installed 18 Truck used to fill filter sock with mulch. Installing 18 Cutting trees from lift. Clearing east end of site between parking lot and creek The computer screen readout from robotic crawler which shows how far into the pipe it has gone. Robotic crawler used to photograph inside the main sanitary sewer line to assist in the location of buried manholes. Brush cutter being used to remove the low level vegetation to make creek access easier. Security fence erected along the top of the creek's south bank. This is the side that is not going to be removed. Access ramp being constructed to create a loop around command post to help with traffic control on site. Command Post being set up. XRF screening of surface soils. View of field house and creek bank. View of creek during flood conditions. View of battery debris exposed from groundhog hole. This material was screened with an XRF and showed levels of 2,600ppm to 2,800ppm lead. View of exposed geotextile and general erosion damage along Kaercher Creek bank. View of exposed geotextile fabric on bank of Kaercher Creek. View of Kaercher Creek with the field house in background. View of battery fragments on back of Kaercher Creek.