Easton Road PFC Site
Updated February 2024
For more information on PFAS contaminants, and what Pennsylvania is doing on a state level, please visit:
dep.pa.gov/pfas.
Site Facts
Municipality/County: Doylestown, Plumstead, & Buckingham Townships, Bucks County
HSCA Site Since: 2016
Primary Contaminants of Concern: Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)
Why is DEP Investigating?
- In May 2016, after a public supply well in the area was found to contain combined concentrations of PFOA and PFOS that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 70 parts per trillion (ppt), Health Advisory Level (2016 HAL), DEP immediately took steps to begin a thorough investigation of the surrounding area.
- In January 2023, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board amended the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act setting Maximum Contaminant Levels (PA MCLs) for PFOA (14 ppt) and PFOS (18ppt). DEP expanded ongoing efforts regarding its investigation of the surrounding area and offered immediate inclusion in DEP’s interim response to residences known to be above the new PA MCLs.
- DEP’s responsibility under the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (HSCA) is to select a remedy that is protective of human health and the environment and complies with all statutory and regulatory requirements.
Drinking Water Sampling and DEP’s Response
- Since May 2016, DEP collected samples from more than 374 private wells within the area of interest surrounding the contaminated public supply well.
- Results of this sampling ranged from non-detect (ND) to 229 ppt combined for PFOA and PFOS.
- 11 homes were identified with combined concentrations of PFOA and PFOS above the 2016 HAL.
- On April 1, 2020, DEP issued its Statement of Decision (SOD) and Response to Public Comments (PDF). In the SOD, DEP selected the Installation and Maintenance of Whole-House Filtration Systems (systems) combined with Restrictions on the Use of Groundwater to address the threats posed by exposure to PFOA and PFOS contamination above the 2016 HAL in residential privately-owned potable wells within the Site.
- The Administrative Record was open for public comment between October 19, 2019 and January 17, 2020. DEP held a public hearing on November 18, 2019.
- DEP considers this response to be an Interim Response because additional actions may be needed to achieve a complete and final cleanup for the Site. Based on this determination, DEP does not plan to transfer maintenance of the filtration systems to the residents after the 12-month period. Instead, DEP plans to monitor and maintain the systems to ensure that they are working properly for the duration of its investigation of the Site.
- By May 2022, DEP had installed new systems or upgraded existing systems at the 11 homes with PFOA and PFOS levels above the 2016 HAL. Post treatment samples collected indicate that DEP installed/upgraded treatment systems are removing PFOA and PFOS contamination from the drinking water supplies to below the 2016 HAL.
- In 2022, in anticipation of PA’s proposed MCLs becoming final, DEP returned to homes in the investigation area with prior detections below the 2016 HAL to evaluate whether they would exceed the much lower proposed MCLs of 14 ppt for PFOA and 18 ppt for PFOS.
- In late 2022, DEP began offering bottled water and whole house treatment systems to homes exceeding PA’s proposed MCLs (which then became final in January 2023, as described above).
- As of December 2023, 33 additional homes have been identified with an exceedance of at least one of the PA MCLs.
- Treatment systems have been installed at the 29 residences who granted DEP permission.
- DEP has installed and continues to maintain a total of 40 treatment systems to date.
Site Investigation
- DEP is investigating groundwater, soil, and surface water in the area to determine the nature and extent of PFAS in the environment.
- A 2018 Site Investigation Report (PDF) was prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc. on behalf of DEP, and documents activities conducted from 2016 through 2018. Activities included:
- Drinking water sampling from residential and commercial properties
- Geophysical investigation
- Installation of groundwater monitoring wells at multiple depths, and
- One round of groundwater sampling from the monitoring wells.
- DEP began collecting surface water samples from Pine Run and its tributaries in 2019. The most recent round of surface water sampling was completed in October 2023.
- Between 2018 and 2020, DEP sampled the monitoring wells on a semi-annual basis. DEP now samples the monitoring wells annually. The most recent round was completed in December 2023.
- In January 2022, Tetra Tech, Inc. performed a Fracture Trace Analysis on behalf of DEP to better understand regional and Site-specific geology and likely groundwater flow direction.
- A Site Investigation Addendum (PDF) was prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc. on behalf of DEP to document Site investigation activities between 2018-2022.
Timeline (February 2024)
= Completed Steps,
= Current Step,
= Next Steps
|
| Public Water Supply Well detected PFOA and PFOS above 2016 HAL | May 2016 |
|
| Drinking water sampling | June 2016-Ongoing |
|
| Monitoring Well Installation | April 2018 |
|
| Monitoring Well Sampling | April 2018-Ongoing |
|
| Preliminary Site Investigation Report | August 2018 |
|
| Surface Water Sampling | June 2019 - Ongoing |
|
| Drinking Water Interim Response Proposed | October 19, 2019 |
|
| Public Hearing | November 18, 2019 |
|
| Drinking Water Statement of Decision (SOD) and Response to Comments Issued | April 1, 2020 |
|
| Treatment System Installations, Upgrades, and Maintenance | September 2020 - Ongoing |
|
| Desktop Fracture Trace Analysis and Report | January 24, 2022 |
|
| Site Investigation Report Addendum | December 2022 |
Community Updates
To subscribe to updates, please send an email to:
RA-EP-SEROECB@pa.gov. Please indicate in the subject line or text of the email that you’d like to receive updates related to the Easton Road PFC Site.
Contacting DEP
Please direct correspondence or inquiries to one of the following:
Site Information: Wayne Harms, Site Project Officer, at 484-250-5730 or
wharms@pa.gov
Community and Media Relations: Stephanie Berardi, Regional Communications Manager, at 484-250-5808 or
sberardi@pa.gov
Legislative Inquiries: Lisa Strobridge, Local Government Liaison, at 484-250-5817 or
lstrobridg@pa.gov
To schedule an appointment to review files associated with this Site and project, please call the Norristown Office at 484-250-5910.
Municipality Information