Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Officials ID source of Montco creek pollution

An industrial complex and a former factory were the sources of pollutants found this week in a Montgomery County creek that was the site of an illegal discharge earlier this month, officials said Friday.

An industrial complex and a former factory were the sources of pollutants found this week in a Montgomery County creek that was the site of an illegal discharge earlier this month, officials said Friday.

The pollution found in Tookany Creek in Cheltenham Township originated from SPS Technologies Inc.'s industrial complex, in neighboring Abington Township, and from the oldest building in Wyncote Commons, a former factory site in Cheltenham, said Bryan Havir, Cheltenham's township manager.

SPS Technologies supplies fasteners to the aerospace industry. At Wyncote Commons, buildings were repurposed for office space.

An official from Precision Castparts Corp., which owns SPS Technologies, said the company is working with authorities to investigate water discharge during maintenance of the facility's sprinkler system.

"The company takes very seriously its responsibility to protect its employees, neighbors, and the environment," said Jay Khetani, a vice president of Precision Castparts.

The Wyncote Commons developer did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Virginia Cain, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said that an investigation was continuing and that the agency plans to release further details next week.

She said the pollutants, which she did not identify, were not affecting drinking water.

The agency discovered the pollution while responding to an unrelated water-main break in the township Wednesday. The contamination affected the creek from its entrance into Cheltenham from Abington to the area near the Jenkintown-Wyncote SEPTA station.

Township officials found out about the discharges about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

"As soon as we became aware of it, we alerted the residents" through the township's Listserv, website, and Facebook page, Havir said.

Township and state officials were at the scene Wednesday. Officials used dye to locate the origins of the discharges, Havir said.

On May 9, there was an illicit discharge into the creek near Renninger Park, in Glenside, that officials said evidently was related to a contractor's work at a municipal swimming pool.

An environmental remediation company was called in to clean up the discharge and remove contaminants from the stream bank, township officials said.

Coincidentally, that contamination occurred the same day actor Mark Ruffalo visited a different part of the creek with local students and environmental groups to test the stream's health.

mbond@philly.com

610-313-8207 @MichaelleBond