Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard

Overview

The Hebelka Auto Salvage Yard is a 20-acre former automobile junkyard located about nine miles west of Allentown in Weisenberg Township, Pennsylvania. It operated as a salvage operation from 1958 to 1979 and was added to the EPA's Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in July 1987. The site accumulated roughly 1,000 cubic yards of used battery casings, most of them broken and empty, spread across two large piles. Those operations left lead contamination in soil, sediment, sludge, and surface water at the site.

EPA identified 11 contaminants of concern across the site. Lead was the most widespread, found in soil, air, sediment, groundwater, surface water, and solid waste. Other contaminants in solid waste included arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, mercury, selenium, silver, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs were also found in soil. One early groundwater sample showed elevated lead levels, but the sample was muddy and considered inconclusive. Later resampling found lead either absent or at safe levels, and contamination did not appear to spread into Iron Run or Lehigh Creek.

Cleanup was organized into two operable units (OUs). For OU01, EPA's 1989 cleanup plan called for excavation, offsite recycling, offsite disposal, onsite solidification and stabilization, and revegetation. A 1993 modification shifted to offsite solidification and stabilization instead. For OU02, EPA selected groundwater monitoring as the approach. Workers removed 900 cubic yards of battery casings and fragments for recycling and excavated 3,300 cubic yards of lead-contaminated soil for treatment and disposal at a permitted landfill. Remedial action ran from September 1992 through December 1993.

EPA determined that human exposure and groundwater migration are both under control. Contaminated materials have been removed, and remaining contamination does not pose a health risk of concern. Because of that finding, the five-year review process does not apply to this site. The site was deleted from the NPL in September 1999, and by June 2006 it had achieved sitewide readiness for anticipated reuse. As of December 2024, one business was operating at the location, employing one person and generating about $574,000 in annual sales revenue.

Community members with questions can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager. Site records are also available online or in person at the EPA Region III office in Philadelphia by calling (215) 814-2396 to schedule an appointment.