On Saturday, August 26, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Montgomery County’s Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) team, Springfield police and Wyndmoor Hose Company firefighters responded to a resident’s tip that a milky-white liquid with a pH level of 13 was leaking into the newly renovated Mermaid Park’s pond in Wyndmoor.

According to The Chestnut Hill Local, a pH level of 13 is nearly double normal levels and indicative of hazardous waste, and investigators are “reasonably confident” that the substance came from a sewer drain connected to the nearby Metlab heat-treatment plant.

It continues:

This is not the first time that contaminants, traced to Metlab, have leaked into Mermaid Pond.  In October 2002, state and local environmental officials, including DEP, investigated a large oil spillage leaching from the same culvert ditch connected to the heat treatment plant. The spillage killed nesting aquatic birds, fish and muskrats.  Taylor said that Metlab covered the cost of that cleanup.

The 64-acre open space and pond at the intersection of Elm Avenue and Mermaid Lane has recently seen upgrades including the dredging of the pond and the construction of a 2,055-foot walking trail. 

For the full article, you can click here. For more on the park’s restoration, you can click here.

For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.

Photo courtesy of Springfield Township