East Mount Zion

Overview

East Mount Zion is a closed 10-acre landfill in Springettsbury Township, York County, Pennsylvania. It accepted municipal and industrial wastes, including electroplating sludge, from 1955 to 1972. The EPA added it to the National Priorities List in 1984. The site is also known as Fetrow Rubbish Dump and sits in Congressional District 10.

Groundwater beneath the site contains 16 contaminants of concern. These include metals such as arsenic, barium, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc. Organic chemicals found there include benzene, vinyl chloride, ethylbenzene, and xylene, along with 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, chlorobenzene, iron, and manganese. The main health risk involved people ingesting contaminated groundwater.

The EPA selected a cleanup plan in 1990. It calls for an impermeable cap over the landfill, surface water controls, a perimeter fence, groundwater monitoring, and deed restrictions. Construction of the cap ran from 1997 to 1999. The state took over routine maintenance in March 2000, and the site achieved sitewide ready-for-anticipated-reuse status in 2009. A concern arose during a 2007 five-year review when methane concentrations above the lower explosive limit were found at the landfill boundary, though methane was not detected in nearby homes. Eleven additional gas vents were installed in 2007, and by 2011 methane levels on the western boundary were not detectable or below levels of concern. Human exposure is now under control across the entire site, and contaminated groundwater migration has been stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water.

The 2022 five-year review found the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment in the short term. All required land-use restrictions are in place, limiting activities such as residential development to match the level of cleanup completed. The next five-year review is scheduled for 2027. The site has not yet been deleted from the National Priorities List.

The EPA's Office of Research and Development also selected the site for a program focused on improving the vegetation cover on the landfill cap to provide ecological benefits such as water filtration, pollination, bird nesting, and air purification. Community interviews and workshops held in late 2020 helped local leaders prioritize which environmental benefits they wanted. Community members can engage through EPA's Community Involvement Program. The site maintains a Community Relations Plan.