Township officials and residents received a lesson regarding the potential environmental hazards if work on the proposed Gibraltar Rock quarry moves forward without any further attempts to clean up and eliminate a nearby toxic waste spill.

        At Monday's board of supervisors meeting, Ross Snook, a New Hanover Township resident and geologist, told a packed house about the potential effects the quarry construction could have on the groundwater and air quality in the area.  Snook, has a B.S. in Geology and Earth Sciences and six-years of experience as a geologist, including well-drilling experience. He has been involved in the operation of Waste Conversion, a hazardous waste treatment facility in Hatfield, for 15 years.

        Snook opened his presentation explaining how the various rock formations found in the township, including various sedimentary and metamorphic rock features, determine the ability of groundwater to flow through.

        According to Snook, the Hoff VC U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Super-Fund cleanup site is located on Layfield Road in New Hanover Township, in the Diabase formation region of the township. Diabase is an igneous rock or molten magma that was forced into existing fractures and faults of the Brunswick foundation during the Jurassic period. The Diabase retained its heat for a considerable time allowing the formation of a fully developed crystalline structure. The rock is very hard and restricts the flow of groundwater to the fractures.

        This is significant because the "hot zone," or source, of the toxic and hazardous chemical spill from the former Swann Oil/Ethan Good site, located on Route 663 north of Hoffmansville Road, has not yet been found. Snook said that Colin Wade of the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told him that no contaminated soil was discovered during the installation of the monitoring wells for a quarry, which might suggest that the hot zone migrated into the fractures of the bedrock of the foundations, essentially becoming trapped there.

        However, Snook continued, that if Gibraltar Rock is allowed to begin quarrying operations prior to locating the source of the spill and subsequent clean-up, dynamiting the Diabase rock formations that could be holding the contaminants in place will cause harmonic vibrations that could open the minimal capillary system and release the toxins into the headwaters of the Swamp Creek watershed.

        Snook said locating the source of the contamination could take anywhere from six months to a year; however, if the source is not located soon, he said, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), facing budgetary constraints, may never locate it.

        In addition, Snook raised concerns about the potential effects that a quarry would have on local wells. The elevation difference is only 80 feet between where Gibraltar wants to start quarrying and the lowest elevation in the township, he said.  Gibraltar wants to excavate to a depth of 400 feet, but because most of the wells in the township are at 100-feet in total depth, there is concern about what will happen to them.

        "Gibraltar changed their water permit status from Clean Water Act to Mining Permit discharge," Snook said, adding that the change will allow the company to pump up to 250,000 gallons of water a day out of the quarry depression, which would have the potential not only to increase the ground water gradient and lower the water level in the residential wells, but also cause a capillary vacuum on the contaminated hot zone, which could then be sucked into the quarry itself.

        Snook also noted that the hydrology data collected in the Burnt Brunswick and Diabase rock formations of the region was discounted in Gibraltar Rock's mining permit, and there is no mention of the Hoff VC site contamination, or what Gibraltar would do if the company encountered any contamination. In the Silvi Group's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, Sean Earlen, vice president of real estate, environmental and public affairs for the company, listed, "No Organic Toxic Pollutants Expected."

        He also brought up some additional issues that could arise, such as what happens during the winter months when the ground and streams are frozen, or the effect on those living in floodplains.

        After his presentation, Snook strongly recommended that township officials initiate engineering modifications so that the discharge from the excavation site can be monitored and tested for all possible contaminants. Snook has made several inquiries to the DEP and noted that officials there were most cooperative.

        When time for questions came, the supervisors appeared to be quite overwhelmed with the information. Supervisor Chair Douglas Muller asked Snook where he obtained all the information. Snook replied that he obtained the information from current data taken from DEP's test wells and geological and hydrological surveys done by Gibraltar Rock.

        Celeste Bish of Ban the Quarry/Paradise Watchdogs voiced the question and concern of many of the crowd, asking: "Who is going to monitor Gibraltar Rock to see if they are monitoring?"

        According to Snook, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said DEP would have jurisdiction over the monitoring. Snook suggested that township officials contact the U.S. Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.), which also has jurisdiction over the groundwater in southeastern PA.

        Bish asked township solicitor Paul Bauer about the current status of Gibraltar Rock's water quality permit and Bauer said that "it is currently being reviewed by the DEP," which has yet to be in contact with township officials.