Bensalem Drum Dump Site Gets $87k In New PA Cleanup Initiative

BENSALEM, PA — A site blighted by industrial waste in Bensalem is among the targets of a state fund intended make unusable properties functional again. On Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that the Industrial Sites Reuse Program granted $87,600 for an assessment of the former Bensalem Drum Dump Site.

Designated a superfund site by the federal government, the dump site in Bensalem includes six blighted acres. Earlier assessment of the site "revealed concentrations of several heavy metals including lead," the governor's office said in a news release.

The funding will support soil investigation and the sampling, monitoring, and analysis of groundwater at the dump site. Ultimately, the site will become an "open space and incorporated into Bensalem Township’s municipal park system," the release said.

Two other projects are slated for new funding from the Industrial Sites Reuse Program.

While Bensalem's park area would grow through the project's completion, in Reading, an $878,612 grant will support a partnership between county's redevelopment authority and the Delaware Valley Development Company, which intends to transform the Buttonwood Gateway site into "28 interlocking townhomes with integral parking garages, 12 walk-up apartments, and six three-bedroom townhomes, all with individual entrances and on-site parking."

In Pottstown, the project will direct $76,582 for environmental assessment of the former Plating Works property. In June, the property's accumulated debt for unpaid taxes and fees — totally nearly a quarter of a million dollars — was forgiven by the city council. The Redevelopment Authority of the County of Montgomery is working with a developer to make the site usable for light manufacturing, warehouses and small businesses.

"Investing in bringing new life to old and unutilized properties creates clean and safe spaces for surrounding communities,” Gov. Wolf said in a statement. "These projects will result in new opportunities like housing options, space for future outdoor recreational activities, and new jobs for these three counties."