Metal Banks is a 10-acre Superfund site on Cottman Avenue in northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was used for scrap metal recovery and transformer oil salvage. Transformer oil operations released contaminated oil across the property, with the heaviest contamination near an underground storage tank. Oil releases flowed into the Delaware River as early as the 1970s, when the U.S. Coast Guard first documented them. EPA placed the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983.
The main contaminants of concern are polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. PCBs are probable human carcinogens that were used in electrical transformer insulation. They spread into the soil, groundwater, and Delaware River sediments through groundwater flow and tidal action. Recreational fishermen eating contaminated fish, construction workers handling contaminated oil beneath the site, and wildlife feeding near the site all faced potential exposure.
Cleanup work spans several decades. EPA issued a cleanup plan in December 1997 covering the site's one operable unit, which focuses on soil excavation and containment. Physical construction ran from February 2008 through September 2013 and included excavating and capping contaminated soil, removing the underground storage tank, installing a sheet pile wall, capping river sediments with marine mattresses, and placing monitoring wells. A sealed steel building and deed restrictions add further protection. The site reached ready-for-anticipated-reuse status in September 2019. Revolution Recovery, a metal recovery and recycling business, has since purchased the property and plans to operate there under Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection permits, with concrete capping added over existing soil covers.
EPA's most recent five-year review, completed in July 2023, found the remedy protective of human health and the environment in the short term. Long-term protectiveness depends on fully implementing institutional controls. Those controls include deed restrictions filed in 2002 that prohibit residential and agricultural uses, ban domestic groundwater use, and restrict excavation that could disturb contaminated materials or compromise soil covers. EPA confirms that human exposure is under control and groundwater migration is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. The next five-year review is scheduled for 2028.
Community members can review site documents at the N.E. Branch of the Philadelphia Library at 2228 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19149, or at the EPA Region 3 office at 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Appointments can be scheduled by calling (215) 814-2396. Available resources include a Community Involvement Plan, fact sheets, and records of public meetings. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry are also involved with the site.
