Source: http://www.montgomerynews.com, May 11, 2016
By: Linda Finarelli
A little less than 24 hours after a contractor working at the Glenside community pool allegedly discharged a contaminant into the Tookany Creek, the material had been cleaned up.
Cheltenham Township Manager Bryan Havir said Wednesday morning that residents who live near the pool on Waverly Road texted township officials Monday to report a contaminant in the creek near Renninger Park in Glenside.
The discharge, believed to have occurred at 5:30 p.m. May 9, is under investigation and appears to have been related to work by a contractor at Glenside Pool involving the water blasting and painting of the pool, according to a township press release.
Stoneridge Inc. of Trevose had been working at least a week on the project and Monday was the last day, Havir said.
“Residue from the project was discharged from a storm inlet” that connects with the creek, he said. “They completed it, as far as the paint removal. They still have to put on the finishing coat.”
Township staff responded to the reports of contamination, the project was immediately suspended and the state Department of Environmental Protection and Pennsylvania Boat and Fish Commission were notified, Havir said. Lewis Environmental, an environmental remediation company that does work for the DEP, was called in and began removing the contaminants from the streambank and creek around 10:45 p.m. Monday, he said.
“Lewis Environmental came out and worked through the night,” Havir said, and by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Lewis determined that the streambank and creek had been cleared of contamination.
“A boom was used to hold everything in place and there was no evidence of any fish kills,” he said.
Havir declined to say how much the cleanup was expected to cost or whether the township would go after Stoneridge to pay for it.
A call to Stoneridge was not returned prior to press time.
Wallover Architects, a consultant hired by the township, will inspect the pool before the final coat is put on, Havir said, and he anticipated Stoneridge would be permitted to complete the work so that the pool would open on time. A change order from Stoneridge was on the agenda at a parks and recreation committee meeting Wednesday night, he said, and he would be advising the committee not to discuss the illicit discharge, since the incident is still under investigation.
“It was unfortunate; we didn’t expect it,” Havir said. “The environment and water quality are important and we have to clean it up. We’re responsible for it.”
The pool was designed in 1968 and probably built in 1969, Havir said. The last time it had been refurbished was in 2005, he said. A second community pool, Conklin Pool, is on the east side of the township off Church Road.