As summer approaches, Bartram’s Mile Trail still closed more than a year after chemical spill

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Heading into Memorial Day weekend, a roughly 300-foot section of Bartram’s Mile Trail along the Schuylkill River in Southwest Philadelphia remains closed and it’s unclear what agency needs to give the go-ahead to reopen it. More than a year ago, a hiker discovered a green substance along the trail, which was later determined to be cancer-causing hexavalent chromium leaking from a nearby former industrial site.

Bartram’s Garden, which controls access to the city-owned trail, says it is waiting for the green light from city public health officials to reopen it.

“We know how much people miss it,” said Bartram’s Garden Director of Development & Communications Caroline Winschel. “We want to know more to make sure that everybody is safe — visitors and staff.”

Pennsylvania health and environment officials say there’s little risk of exposure to the chemical for most park users, and the levels found along the trail posed no health hazard over the short term. Still, on its website, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection advises people to “continue to stay away from the closed area [of trail] in an abundance of caution.”

Philadelphia Department of Public Health spokesperson Jim Garrow said the city is not able to decide when the trail should be reopened, since it has not done soil testing. The Health Department will defer to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on when to reopen the trail, he said.

The Department of Environmental Protection did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

The hexavalent chromium was determined to have come from a nearby former petroleum product terminal site slated for redevelopment by Alliance 51st Street LLC, which purchased the site in 2021. Alliance says the chromium is present in fill that was added to part of the site in the early 1900s, which the company says was likely used in other areas offsite as well.

The company says it has removed impacted soil from the trail.

The Bartram’s Mile trail is commonly used for fishing, walking and biking.

“It’s a challenging section to have closed because it’s such a nice area for walking or riding a bike by the river,” Winschel said.

People biking along the trail now need to use 51st Street as a detour to get around the closed section of trail, she added.

“You’d have to interrupt it by going on a road, which would just be a different experience and not something that’s going to feel as safe for as many people,” she said.

A report Alliance 51 filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection earlier this spring suggested that hexavalent chromium could be coming from sources beyond its property, including Schuylkill River sediments and an elevated railroad embankment near the trail.

During a public meeting on Alliance 51’s remediation plan Thursday evening, members of the public expressed concern that it could be years before the company’s final remediation plan for the site — which includes capping the contaminated soil with concrete — is complete. The company said it has installed sediment and stormwater control measures, including silt socks, silt filters, silt fencing and berms to try and prevent any further contamination from leaving the site.

“We’re confident that we’re doing all the means necessary to alleviate that concern,” said Eric Carlson, vice president of development and construction at Alliance HP, which lists the Alliance 51 property as their own.

Bartram’s Garden is concerned that contamination of the trail area could recur from groundwater or other sources, and wants further assurances that the trail and nearby park will be monitored and protected.

“I feel okay about the stormwater, but I have a lot of questions now about the groundwater and where that is moving,” said Bartram’s Garden Executive Director Maitreyi Roy. “The groundwater doesn’t see any property lines.”