bell landfill

TWP RTE 393

Bell Landfill covers 33 acres in Terry Township, Pennsylvania. Prior to 1970, the privately owned and operated site served primarily as an open dump for municipal trash. In 1978, the State licensed the landfill to accept ferric hydroxide sludge in an asphalt-lined portion of the fill area. From 1979 to 1981, 8,225 tons of sludge were disposed at the site. After identifying numerous permit violations related to leachate collection and the material used to cover the fill material, the State closed the landfill in 1982. The owner of the landfill covered the disposal areas with soil and installed two leachate collection tanks. These actions, however, did not perform satisfactorily, and several leachate seeps developed from the disposal areas. The ground water is contaminated with arsenic and vinyl chloride from the former disposal activities. Leachate is contaminated with heavy metals including manganese and arsenic. Surface soil is contaminated with arsenic and cadmium. After the landfill was closed, leachate seeped from the faulty collection system causing contamination of soils along the Township Road, contamination of an on-site pond, and odor. Once the landfill was capped, EPA and the PRPs expected that the quantities of leachate, which is collected in two tanks, would gradually decrease. It did not. In 2008 the PRPs started construction of a modified leachate remedy for the site which significantly reduced offsite disposal and transportation costs of leachate to a distant landfill. Approximately 800 people live within 3 miles of the site and use private wells for drinking water. About 100 people live within a mile of the site.

Hazardous Ranking Score

35 / 100

A score of 28.5 or higher qualifies a site for the Superfund National Priority List.

Regional Contact

Region 3
Within the region: (800) 438-2474
Outside the region: (215) 814-5000

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Timeline

Discovery
Site Inspection
Preliminary Assessment
Final Listing On NPL
Removal

Contaminants & Health Effects

      Carcinogen
      Endocrine Disrupter
      Neurotoxic
      Sensitiser
      Reproductive Toxin
      Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic
      VOC
      Mutagen

        Census

        White
        African American
        Asian
        American Indian and Alaska Native
        Native Hawaiian
        Other

        90

        People living
        within a 1 mile radius

        $65,160

        Average Income

        34

        Occupied homes

        Potentially Responsible Parties

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