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?
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. However, the model and input parameters considered will be discussed during future outreach efforts.