R. Jonathan Tuleya at the South Philly Review offers a piece on the environmental clean-up of the former Defense Department compound in South Philadelphia, known locally as the Quartermaster.
Eight years and millions of dollars later, one could argue the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia property looks about the same as it did when the process to clean it up and turn it over to the city began.
They'd be right.
The portion of the property near 26th Street and Oregon Avenue -- part of a larger parcel that once supplied clothes and food to U.S. soldiers deployed around the world -- is still flat and barren.
But what the casual observer can't see is what's happening about 20 feet below the site soon to house a shopping center.
According to the most recent calculations, 770,000 gallons of petroleum have been sucked from the infamous plume lurking beneath parts of the DSCP and the old Passyunk Homes property immediately to the south.
An estimated 1.5 million gallons remain. The good news is "it's not growing," said Mike Heffron, project manager for Tetra Tech FW, the environmental engineering firm hired by the Department of Defense to conduct the remediation.
Richard Bell, the Base Realignment and Closure programs environmental coordinator for the DSCP, is satisfied with the progress made by Heffron and his crew.
"These guys are doing a very fine job," Bell said. "The regulatory agencies seem very satisfied with the work, as does the community."
The completion date for the cleanup is uncertain.
You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:
http://www.southphillyreview.com/news/active_duty_at_dscp-69404092.html
You can also read about the reuse of part of the old Quartermaster by the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center via the below link:
http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/06/delaware-valley-intelligence-center.html
Note: The above link also links to my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center as well as a history of the Quartermaster.
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