Bartram’s Garden trail contamination leads to calls for better communication, more transparency

In April, multiple agencies were informed of an environmental concern. But the public wasn’t aware until a private citizen alerted Bartram’s Garden staff.

In April, during one of his usual walks along Bartram’s Mile Trail — which runs from just south of Grays Ferry Avenue through Bartram’s Garden to 56th Street — Southwest Philadelphia resident Andy Switzer noticed something unusual: A “science-fiction green” liquid was spilling out from under a fence that separated the trail from an adjacent former industrial property. The liquid had reached the public trail and was potentially leaking into the Schuylkill River.

Switzer, 50, snapped a photo of the discharge and sent it to a friend, an environmental scientist. She encouraged him to report the sighting to both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

After Switzer reported the possible contamination to both agencies’ hotlines, he pursued answers for months from DEP officials about the identity of the mystery liquid. On July 11, over three months after he first reported his concerns, Switzer received an email from DEP officials stating that levels of hexavalent chromium (chromium-6), a known cancer-causing chemical, was found along the Bartram’s Mile Trail, along with lead and arsenic.

The liquid was leaking from the former petroleum tank farm adjacent to the trail, which was bought in 2022 and is now owned by Alliance 51st Street LLC. 

The DEP later said that they had received and evaluated the test results more than a month earlier, on June 10.

It was Switzer who ultimately alerted staff at Bartram’s Garden about the DEP’s findings on July 11, leading Bartram’s leadership to swiftly close a portion of the trail and warn the public that the site was “an evolving and potentially dangerous situation” on July 15.

Residents and city officials soon raised questions: What took so long to begin clean-up efforts? Why wasn’t Bartram’s Garden staff informed earlier, especially about chemicals on recreational trails? Would the public have been informed if it was not for Switzer’s persistence?

DEP officials presented a timeline of actions, test results, and the property owner’s analysis of the site during a virtual town hall hosted by State Rep. Regina Young on July 31. It was during the Q&A portion, nearly two hours into the call, when Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District) questioned why it took months for the public to be informed of the incident.

Young pointed to a breakdown in communication between agencies. “Unfortunately, when working with systems, there’s a lot of bureaucracy that happens and people happen to work in silos,” Young said.

She also referenced a prior call with city, state, and federal partners, emphasizing the importance of collaboration among agencies moving forward to keep the public informed sooner. “This was a hard lesson to learn from all departments,” Young said.

DEP Communications Director Malik Boyd agreed with Young’s sentiment during the town hall that agencies should align and inform the community. “We recognize there’s always an opportunity to perfect process. We’re committed to that,” Boyd said.

What happened after a resident filed the environmental complaint?

After a citizen submits an environmental complaint to the PA DEP, the agency confirms that the complaint was received and communicates again when the investigation is complete. The DEP website states that it will respond quickly and professionally to any incident that affects the health, safety, or environment of Pennsylvania residents, which may include discoloration of a waterway. It is unclear how long complaints like these take to become complete.

In April, Switzer called both PA DEP and EPA Region 3 hotlines to report the potential contamination at the trail. The EPA referred Switzer to the Southeast Regional Office of PA DEP, which is protocol. “In our role, EPA does not typically respond to individual calls from residents — but rather refers them to the corresponding state or local agencies. In responding to an incident, issue, spill, or other event — if the state or local agency requests support from EPA, we then respond accordingly,” an EPA Region 3 spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Green Philly.

After the Switzer’s initial calls on April 5, the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) performed an inspection at the site, took photos and a sample, and requested testing for dye and algae based on observation, according to the town hall. DEP “subsequently conducted an inspection to evaluate site conditions, and at the time of inspection, there was no active material discharging from the site, and no violations were observed,” according to a public statement.

The PWD shared the sample results with DEP on May 1, and the lab report said, “green coloration most likely due to the presence of a synthetic, non-fluorescent dye.” 

During a follow-up inspection by DEP on May 2, officials observed that the property owner, Alliance, “acted by placing berms across a drainage ditch to reduce the potential for the stormwater in the drainage swale from leaving the site, or reaching the Schuylkill River.” DEP then requested that Alliance hire a consultant to collect samples and perform analysis at the site in May.

When preliminary results came back with detectable levels of chromium-6 in both soil and groundwater on June 10, the DEP asked the property owner to provide plans on how they intended to remediate the issue.

On July 10, one month after receiving the results of the analysis, a DEP representative emailed Switzer: “Preliminarily, it appears the property owner’s consultant has identified the green material as coming from fill located beneath the clay liner on the property with detectable levels of chromium in both soil and groundwater.”

Switzer promptly wrote back inquiring about the species and chromium concentration detected at the site. DEP officials replied to Switzer, stating that initial analysis showed that “groundwater had detected concentrations between 1,900 and 23,500 micrograms per liter for hexavalent chromium.”

Switzer decided to contact Bartram’s Garden staff directly after DEP’s email that confirmed chromium-6 was found, which led Bartram’s staff to close the trail and alert the public of a potential public health risk.

“It didn’t seem believable that somebody in an environmental agency would be so cavalier,” Switzer said. “They kept blowing it off and had no apparent need to take any public health measures.”

Bartram’s has faced a history of pollution and equity concerns. “This potential toxic chemical contamination is just the latest example in a long history of environmental harm inflicted on Southwest,” Gauthier said in a July 17 statement.

DEP officials did not respond to questions from Green Philly about why the agency did not report the the detection of chromium-6 directly to Bartram’s Garden staff members. 

DEP and state health department officials have assured members of the public that trail users are at “very low risk” of chromium exposure, aside from young children who may put contaminated soil directly into their mouths.

Yet Dr. Arthur Frank, a professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health, said state officials have a duty to swiftly alert the public about possible exposure to any level of a known toxin.

“Any time that there is a leak of potentially hazardous material, someone should first tell people. Second, figure out what it is. And third, figure out how to clean it up. It’s really pretty simple,” Frank said. “You need to protect people from exposure to hazardous material, especially if it’s carcinogenic.”

Frank said it’s impossible to assess potential risks to the public’s health without knowing how long chromium has been under the Alliance site and potentially running into the Schuylkill and onto the public trail.

“The risk may be low, but it’s not zero,” Frank said.

What is hexavalent chromium?

Hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, is the cancer-causing chemical that poisoned a community in Hinkley, California, in the 1990s, which led to a $330-million settlement and was portrayed in the 2000 film “Erin Brockovich.”

It is commonly used for anti-corrosion metal coating, wood preservation, and textile dyeing, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. It’s been detected in groundwater because of these industries’ pollution, as well as from natural gas compression stations that use it as an anti-corrosion agent in cooling water.

Long-term exposure to chromium-6 in drinking water has been linked to cancer, reproductive issues, as well as damage to the liver and kidneys.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, four samples from along the trail area exceeded a residential cleanup standard of 37 parts per million. The highest level detected was 77 parts per million. The tests showed no pollution in the Schuylkill.

Are there ongoing concerns?

Alliance began cleanup efforts and removed sentiment on Bartram’s Garden Trail July 18 and July 22, according to the virtual town hall.

Officials said they are continuing to work with the site owner to prevent discharge from the property from flowing onto the trail, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. DEP also said it plans to make unannounced site inspections to ensure Alliance keeps up with “best management practices.” Officials also said they are continuing to collect samples in the area to determine if areas beyond the trail were impacted.

Meanwhile, Switzer and other members of the public continue to raise questions about the communication breakdown and continued response to the contamination. “Had I not taken it personally and been very proactive, I’m not sure what would have happened,” Switzer said. “Construction has continued at the site. I haven’t seen workers wearing any protective health gear or taking precautions to stop dust from spreading at a site that is sitting on hexavalent chromium.”

Several hundred feet of the 1.5-mile Bartram’s Trail remains closed, and many of Bartram’s programs are indefinitely on hold while the DEP continues to test the site.

Cover photo: Southwest Philadelphia resident Andy Switzer photographed a green substance running off the property located at 51st and Botanic Avenue, a former petroleum tank farm, onto the public Bartram’s Mile path along the Schuylkill River in April.