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a walking path is shown next to a river
K&T Trail along Delaware River waterfront, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Photo: NOAA)

Trustees Release Final Restoration Plan to Implement Shoreline and Wetland Restoration Projects at Metal Bank Site

September 13, 2024

On September 13, 2024, the Trustee Council for the Metal Bank Superfund Site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania released the Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (PDF, 49 pages) to restore habitat and natural resources injured as a result of contaminants being released at the site. 

The Trustees will implement the Kensington & Tacony Trail (K&T Trail) Living Shoreline and Tacony Boat Ramp Project, which includes shoreline and riparian habitat  restoration, and nearshore improvements. This project will transform an eroding shoreline and industrial bulkhead into a naturalized and living shoreline through riparian plantings, located about ¼ mile south of the Metal Bank site. This project will repair and stabilize 1,150 linear feet of living shoreline at the Tacony Boat Launch and a wharf that is directly south along the K&T Trail. Using living shoreline techniques, the shoreline will be restored to create a freshwater tidal wetland, protecting and enhancing aquatic vegetation such as Spatterdock (Nuphar advena), which provides crucial foraging and nursery habitats for both adult and juvenile fish. The Trustees will also create an access path to the shoreline for maintenance, stewardship, and educational activities, while enhancing accessibility to these habitats for passive recreation. The Trustees expect to start this project in late 2024/early 2025.   

Funds for these restoration efforts were acquired as part of the 2021 Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) settlement between Metal Bank and the Trustees. Trustee Council members for this case include NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, acting through the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Fish and Boat Commission.

Background on the site

From 1962 to 1985, the site was used for scrap metal storage. For approximately five years, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, electrical transformer salvage operations were performed at the site. Some of the salvaged transformers contained oil-bearing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which were released to soils and groundwater at the site, eventually seeping into the Delaware River and contaminating river surface water and sediment. These releases caused injury to natural resources, including fish, benthic organisms, and benthic habitat. In 1983, EPA designated the Metal Bank property a Superfund site. From 2008 to 2013 the EPA led contaminant removal and clean up efforts to reduce the threat to the river environment and enhance recovery of habitat.

In 2021, Metal Bank and the Trustees resolved Metal Bank’s liability for injuries to natural resources stemming from hazardous waste pollution at the site which provided the funds for these restoration efforts. 

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