Department of Environmental Protection

Posted on October 8, 2015 by admin

The DEP office for Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia is located in Norristown, Montgomery County, PA.

DEP Southeast Regional Office
2 E. Main Street Norristown, PA 19401-4915.
Phone: 484 250-5900 (24 hours/day)

PA DEP Emergency Response Program
The Department of Environmental Protection’s mission during emergencies and disasters is to respond quickly and professionally to any incident which adversely affects the health and safety or the environment of the citizens of the Commonwealth. First on-scene is usually the Environmental Emergency Response Team whose members are highly trained, experienced emergency first responders.

Emergency Response Contact Numbers In Your Area
DEP maintains 24 hr. phone lines in each Region which are monitored 24/7/365 for dispatching response personnel to emergency and incidents within DEP purview.

Local Mobile Home Parks Fined for Enivornmental Violations

Posted on October 2, 2012 by admin

HARRISBURG, PA — The Department of Environmental Protection announced today that, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it has signed a $1,339,000 joint consent decree with GSP Management Co., Frank T. Perano and related companies, due to drinking water and wastewater issues at 73 mobile home parks, 70 of which are in Pennsylvania.

The consent decree addresses specific violations at 32 of the Pennsylvania mobile home parks. At the agencies’ direction, the company has agreed to take various corrective measures.

“This consent decree covers a pattern of serious, repeated violations GSP committed all across Pennsylvania,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “This should be a message to all—DEP is going to come down hard on those who show this type of disregard for our environmental protection laws.”

DEP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inspectors discovered violations at the mobile home parks during five consecutive years. The wastewater violations include illegal discharge of partially treated or untreated sewage into nearby streams and failure to properly operate and maintain wastewater treatment facilities. The drinking water violations include exceeding federal drinking water standards for certain pollutants and failing to notify residents about drinking water problems.

The consent decree also requires GSP to take these numerous actions to achieve compliance and ensure park residents have access to clean water:

• Conduct environmental audits at all the mobile home parks, including those that do not have any permits from DEP, by an independent auditor;
• Implement specific corrective actions at the Village at Pleasant Hills in Hamburg, Berks County, and Cedar Manor near Middletown, Dauphin County;
• Hire an environmental consultant to develop an environmental management system that will help GSP achieve environmental compliance through control and monitoring of its operations; and
• Conduct monthly evaluations at all 73 mobile home parks and report the results every four months to DEP and EPA.

The company’s actions constitute violations of the Clean Streams Law and Safe Drinking Water Act. The penalty will be divided between DEP and EPA.

The consent decree is subject to Federal District Court approval and will be published at a later date in the Federal Register, which will begin a 30-day public comment period.

Media Contact: Lisa Kasianowitz, 717-315-8780 (mobile)

Source: Department of Environmental Protection, South-central Regional Office

Editor’s Note: The Pennsylvania mobile home parks where the violations occurred are listed below by county and indicate which kind of violation was found. Parks marked with an asterisk had both wastewater and drinking water violations.

Berks County
Village at Pleasant Hills, Hamburg*

Blair County
Shamrock Court, Duncansville (wastewater)
Apple Blossom Lane, Duncansville (drinking water)
Lehigh Terrace Court, Duncansville (drinking water)

Bucks County
Melody Lakes Country Club Estates, Quakertown (wastewater)

Carbon County
Spring Hill, Whitehaven (drinking water)

Centre County
Black Hawk Village, Centre Hall (wastewater)

Chester County
Indian Run Village, Honey Brook*

Columbia County
Stony Brook Circle, Orangeville (drinking water)

Dauphin County
Alex Acres, Halifax*
Pine Manor Mobile Home Park, Middletown*
Shady Back Acres, Harrisburg*
Country Manor Farms, Harrisburg (drinking water)
Cedar Manor, Middletown*

Indiana County
Northview Estates, Indiana*

Lycoming County
Tiadaghton View, Montoursville (drinking water)
Twin Hills Village, Montoursville (drinking water)

Mifflin County
North Hills, Lewistown (drinking water)

Montgomery County
Green Hill Mobile Home Park, Green Lane*

Northumberland County
Bucknell View, Milton*
D & H Court, Milton (drinking water)

Perry County
Orchard Hills, Shermans Dale (drinking water)

Schuylkill County
The Pines at West Penn, New Ringgold*

Wayne County
Canal Mobile Park, White Mills (drinking water)
Pocono Mobile Manor, Gouldsboro (drinking water)
Sunrise Terrace, Honesdale (drinking water)

York County
Brookhaven Mobile Home Park, York (wastewater)
Mountain View Terrace, Dover*
Northwood Manor, York Haven*
Lincoln Crest, Dover (drinking water)
Newberry Estates, York Haven (drinking water)
Newberry Farms, Manchester (drinking water)

DEP Fines First Student Inc.

Posted on September 22, 2011 by admin

The Department of Environmental Protection Fined First Student Inc. $121,520 for Bucks County Fuel Spill

NORRISTOWN — The Department of Environmental Protection has assessed First Student Inc. and its parent company, FirstGroup America Inc., a $121,520 penalty to resolve violations associated with a November 2010 release of diesel fuel from its school bus terminal in Newtown, Bucks County.

“This incident at First Student required the emergency response of five government agencies and disrupted a water utility’s operations for six days,” Southeast Regional Director Joseph A. Feola said. “With proper operation and maintenance of its above-ground storage tank, the company could have prevented this incident.”

On Nov. 8, 2010, a First Student employee opened a valve to drain rainwater from a containment tank that housed a 10,000-gallon leaking fuel tank. The valve remained open overnight and allowed a mixture of water and diesel fuel to run from the terminal into Newtown Creek and, eventually, into Neshaminy Creek, upstream from a public water system operated by Aqua Pennsylvania Inc.

In spite of corrective actions made by First Student, including the use of absorbent booms, vacuuming and the excavation of contaminated soil and gravel, it became necessary on Nov. 9 for Aqua PA to shut down its Neshaminy water treatment plant intake. This required the utility to maintain a drinking water supply for more than 100,000 people through interconnection, increased production and the purchase of additional water.

The incident resulted in violations of Pennsylvania’s Storage Tank Act, Clean Streams Law, Safe Drinking Water Act and Fish and Boat Code. Inspections of the facility after the Nov. 8 release revealed an ongoing lack of required tank maintenance and leak detection equipment that allowed for pollution.

First Student has paid civil penalties of $41,550 to the state’s Storage Tank Fund, $13,619 to the Clean Water Fund and $56,250 to the Safe Drinking Water Account. The company has also reimbursed DEP for $7,600 of expenses incurred in response to the release and paid $2,500 in civil damages to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us or call 484-250-5900.