Remedial investigations are evaluations of current conditions. Those current condition measurements would inherently include climate effects as they have occurred and are occurring. The future effects of climate change will be evaluated in future modeling efforts. Note that the future fate and transport modeling is also a remedial investigation activity. The fate and transport modeling efforts are also part... read more
Grouped questions: 1) Evergreen may not fragment the Remedial Investigation Reports by diverting its deficiencies into a future Fate and Transport Remedial Investigation Report. 2)Once again, you are dealing with a corporate entity not dedicated to much beyond its profits and quite willing to put the health of its workers and the public at risk. The way this corporation has divided its reports, delayed releasing updates, promises to report later regarding crucial elements of the project that are needed to make a final decision is NOT the kind of behavior we want to see in our region. I find this appalling and needs to be separately addressed.
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
All Remedial Investigation Reports do contain Fate and Transport. Earlier AOI reports used the Domenico model to analyze the individual AOI areas. The decision to complete a site-wide Fate and Transport model to be included in a separate Remedial Investigation report allows Evergreen to evaluate groundwater flow and contaminate transport on a site wide basis, since the groundwater conditions are not bound by AOI... read more
Immediate multiple station environmental sensing for air, water and soil is essential to establish a baseline of current and future conditions of the now Hilco owner of the refinery.
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
All historic data collected to date has established a baseline of environmental conditions as per the requirements of Act 2 and have been documented in Remedial Investigation Reports. Ongoing groundwater sampling activities and soil samples collected since the RIRs were submitted, and the thousands of soil samples that are to be collected by Hilco Redevelopment Partners as part of their environmental sampling to... read more
Two questions on fill: 1) Could you talk more about the topmost ‘fill’ layer in the Environmental Setting slides … how deep is this fill, what is it composed of? When was it added there? Thank you! 2)What is the composition of the layer labeled ‘Fill’? Does Evergreen know from where the fill was obtained? Is river dredging/channel widening one possible source for this fill?
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
Much of the former refinery and surrounding area is underlain by historic fill material, which was primarily placed for the purpose of reclaiming lowlands along the banks of the tidal Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers during industrialization. The fill materials are heterogeneous in nature and have been characterized as a mixture of compacted soil and anthropogenic debris, including sand, clay, silt, gravel, cinders,... read more
Does your careful evaluation of pollutant concentrations, water levels, plumes etc. take account of future rises in sea level due to global warming, the fact that some portion of the site (perhaps most of it) will be underwater by the end of the century), also the value of restoring some of the site to the wetland it used to be for relation between land and water?
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
The remedial investigations performed to date sought to characterize the facility’s current and past conditions, delineate petroleum contamination, and form a basis for making predictions of future conditions. Evergreen recognizes that changes to climate are predicted to occur and may impact the facility in the future, and that these changes should be evaluated within the timeframe of the Act 2 remediation. The... read more
I think we’re asking the same questions about climate change/sea level rise etc., because we cannot parse/understand the answers that have been posted on the web site.
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
As noted, climate change will be considered in future contaminant modeling efforts. Most questions posed to date cannot be answered specifically because we are not at that phase in the Act 2 process yet. We can say that Evergreen will consider all questions, comments and input relating to climate change received during the comment period for past Act 2 reports in future modeling efforts, and there will be... read more
On the Q+A page, responding to the question “Why is there no mention of climate change in discussion of the Water-table aquifer? …”, the response includes the sentence “Evergreen recognizes that climate changes are predicted that could alter local hydrologic conditions near the facility, such as higher water levels in the water-table aquifer or higher tides in the Schuylkill River.” This misrepresents the nature of climate change and sea level rise. It’s not a question of higher tides. Everything will be higher – low tides, mean water levels, and high tides. Everything is going to go up. This will affect both the Schuykill (as far as it is tidal, to the art museum), and the Delaware. 1. What sources and estimates for climate change and sea level rise is Evergreen working with? 2. What is the maximum value for sea level rise that Evergreen is considering? 3. Sea-levels will continue to rise at least into the next century. What time-scale, in terms of years from now, does Evergreen consider adequate to ‘future proof’ the site from rising sea levels?
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
Most of Evergreen’s groundwater modeling efforts to date have focused on the development of a baseline model that is calibrated to simulate current, average conditions. Evergreen is presently reviewing available documentation pertaining to climate changes predicted for the Philadelphia region. Data review is in its early stages as the Fate and Transport Model RIR is proposed for submittal at the end of 2021. ... read more
On the Q+A page, responding to the question “Evergreen’s answer on the website to the question of whether climate change will be incorporated in the groundwater modeling …”, Evergreen’s response includes the sentence “Evergreen plans to evaluate climate change data … will include a review of available literature on climate change predictions for the Philadelphia region.” 1. It would be useful to see which sources Evergreen is consulting. Will Evergreen share a bibliography of the sources that you have consulted with the public?
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
Yes, Evergreen’s fate and transport RIR will include a references section with all cited publications and resources used in the groundwater modeling. Evergreen is also planning future meetings to discuss the model and input... read more
A) On the Q+A page, responding to the question “The hydrological situation is changing …” Evergreen’s response includes the words “climate changes predicted to occur within the anticipated timeframe to completion will be considered.” B) On the Q+A page, responding to the question “Climate change-generated sea-level rise (Schuylkill, Delaware) is a given” Evergreen’s response includes the words “… i.e., how many years are predicted for Evergreen to meet Cleanup goals under Act 2 compared to the magnitude of climate change predictions within that general time period.” Both of these responses imply that only the amount of sea-level rise that occurs during the clean-up operation will be considered. However, sea level rise will continue to affect the site for decades, or perhaps centuries. 1. Can Evergreen confirm (in plain English) that it is only considering sea-level rise for the duration of the remediation project? 2. If so, why is Evergreen not considering long-term sea level rise and its impact on aquifers into account, when considering the remediation plans for the site?
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
It is Evergreen’s intent to consider climate changes predicted to occur within the timeframe of cleanup of the former Sunoco refinery. In general, this timeframe would be considered “long term” as petroleum contaminants in groundwater may take decades to remediate and/or degrade to concentrations below regulated standards. Follow-up question to the question above: Can you expand on your use of quotes for... read more
Are you aware which Philadelphia City officials are charged with reviewing the documents?
Posted by Tiffani Doerr & filed under .
Evergreen is not aware of who at the City may review the Act 2 reports. Our Act 2 reports must be reviewed by both DEP and EPA for approval, not the City. Nonetheless, the City is engaged in the public involvement... read more