Delaware's environmental department is making progress on revitalizing a zinc-polluted former factory site in Yorklyn.
After the NVF Yorklyn plant declared bankruptcy and closed its doors in 2009, state officials started to clean up the zinc contaminated area. One part of the area will now be a habitat for fish and barrier to flooding.
“It was a derelict facility after the company went bankrupt and it’s right here along one of our blue line streams. We couldn't just sit by and allow contamination to impact our waters continuously,” said John Cargill, a hydrologist with Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
The state removed 170 tons of zinc and more than 200 pounds of hazardous lead from the site with help from a water quality loan.
So far, they’ve converted it into a two-acre wetland and built new trails that connect with existing recreational trails.
And Tuesday morning, DNREC’s work on the site was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA awarded them a PISCES award for their innovative project using a Clean Water State Revolving Fund – a water quality loan and federal-state partnership that provides low-cost financing to transform a community.
It is one of five projects in the nation to win the award for 2017. EPA Region 3 Administrator Cosmo Servidio commended the state for the work done at the NVF site.
“This NVF project stood out for the way DNREC formed partnerships and arranged financing to make it happen,” Servidio said. “And their hard work and creativity will provide greater quality of life benefits for the residents of this community, the economy of the fiber mills district, and the water quality of Red Clay Creek and beyond.
Restoration at the NVF site isn’t quite complete. DNREC plans to create four other wetlands near the site and will stock trout in the area in Spring for the first time in decades.
Work also continues on mixed-use redevelopment of the area, including an amphitheater and a Wilmington And Western Railroad stop.
