On April 30, 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Valley Forge National Historical Park (NHP) is the 2020 recipient of the Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Award. This is a national award that recognizes innovative thinking and cooperation among federal agencies, states, tribes, local partners, and developers that have led to noteworthy restoration and reuse of federal facility sites. The award recognizes the park’s work to remediate a 112-acre Asbestos Release Site (ARS) located in the center of the 3,452 acre park’s historic Grand Parade.
“We are excited and honored to receive this award from the EPA," said acting superintendent Jonathan Meade. “The clean up process was lengthy, and we are pleased we can now safely reopen 112-acres of the formerly closed section of the park to the public. We would like to acknowledge the efforts of the many current and former employees that worked to complete the restoration of the Asbestos Release Site."
The ARS was the result of insulation manufacturing that occurred at the site from 1895 until 1968, while the land was privately owned. Imported asbestos fibers were combined with magnesium carbonate obtained from adjacent limestone quarries. The asbestos-containing waste was disposed into the quarries and a drainage swale that discharged into the Schuylkill River. The asbestos-containing waste was subsequently covered with soil and in some locations, asphalt. Due to their historical significance during the American Revolution, these areas eventually became part of the Valley Forge State Park and, in 1976 became Valley Forge National Historical Park.
The asbestos contamination remained buried and forgotten until 1997, when the National Park Service (NPS) discovered it during the excavation of a trench. To address the immediate risk to the public, the EPA and NPS initiated a response action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). After the immediate threat was addressed, NPS and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania worked collaboratively to complete an assessment of the site and to jointly fund clean up within the park.
The NPS completed the remediation in 2017, allowing the park to open the 112 acres of formerly closed area to the public. The clean up allows the NPS to manage the entire area in a way that achieves the purpose for which Valley Forge NHP was established by Congress, which is to conserve and interpret the land and resources associated with the 1777-1778 winter encampment of General George Washington and the Continental Army and to provide opportunities for visitors to learn and understand the encampment’s legacy. The park now manages most of the formerly contaminated area as meadow, providing healthy wildlife habitat and additional opportunities for visitor recreation and wildlife observation.
For more information about the asbestos project, please visit https://www.nps.gov/vafo/learn/management/asbestos.htm or contact Amy Ruhe at Amy_Ruhe@nps.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
