Berkley Products Co. Dump

Overview

The Berkley Products Co. Dump, also called Schoeneck Landfill, is a former privately-owned landfill covering 5 acres within a 21-acre area in Denver, Pennsylvania. The site accepted municipal waste, paint waste, organic solvents, resins, and pigment sludge from the 1930s until 1970. EPA added it to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989 after finding heavy metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other industrial contaminants in soil, groundwater, and leachate.

Thirty-four contaminants of concern have been identified at the site. Soil contains arsenic, barium, chromium, cobalt, copper, cyanide, lead, mercury, nickel, phenol, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), silver, toluene, zinc, and several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Groundwater contains arsenic, barium, benzene, beryllium, vinyl chloride, methylene chloride, manganese, nickel, and toluene. In 2010, testing also detected 1,4-dioxane above risk-based levels in monitoring wells.

Cleanup of the landfill was completed by September 2001. Work included consolidating waste, installing an engineered cap, excavating contaminated materials, and setting up fencing and monitoring wells. The site was deleted from the NPL in March 2007. A separate groundwater investigation began in October 2015 after the 1,4-dioxane detections. A focused feasibility study was completed in May 2020, and EPA is now developing a final remedy for the groundwater. The 2025 five-year review confirmed that the landfill cap effectively contains contaminated waste and soil, and no human or ecological exposures to contamination are occurring at this time. However, data remains insufficient to conclusively determine whether groundwater migration is stabilized, and the site has not yet achieved sitewide readiness for anticipated reuse. Three follow-up actions were identified in the 2025 review: adding a residential well to the state's annual monitoring program, implementing institutional controls for a surface water diversion feature on an adjacent parcel, and sampling for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in landfill monitoring wells.

Institutional controls remain in place, including zoning restrictions that prevent residential development on the capped landfill area. EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) continue to monitor groundwater and residential wells. The next five-year review is scheduled for September 2025. Community members who want to get involved can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator, John Brakeall, or Remedial Project Manager Lena Harper, using the contact information below. Site documents are available online or in person at the West Cocalico Township Office in Reinholds, Pennsylvania, or at the EPA Region 3 office in Philadelphia, with appointments required for in-person visits.