State Grant Will Help With Pollock Park Clean-Up

Pollock Park has been closed since contamination was discovered in the soil there in 2017.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the office of State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-146th Dist.

State Rep. Joe Ciresi has announced that the Department of Community and Economic Development has approved $56,704 in new funding through a Industrial Sites Reuse Program grant to perform an environmental assessment and remediation plan for Pollock Park on the former Mayer Pollock Steel Company site in Pottstown. 

The borough plans to remediate the site, which has been closed since 2017, and return it to recreational use.

Two-acre Pollock Park, shown here as the green square, is located
between Cross and South Streets in the southern portion of Pottstown.

“With the commonwealth’s help, we will restore this recreational space in Pottstown and make it safe once again,” Ciresi said. 

“With this new funding, we come a step closer to properly cleaning and reopening Pollock Park, which will lead to years of enjoyment of this outdoor space for our residents. I’d like to thank the DCED and Governor Wolf for their support of public health and outdoor recreation with this funding,” Ciresi said in a prepared release.

Pollock Park is located on the 800 block of Cross Street and serves a residential neighborhood on Pottstown's south side. It is also a designated trail head park for the Schuylkill River Trail. 

Heavy metals and Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) have been identified in the soil throughout the property. It is believed that contamination originates from the previous use of the site as a scrap yard. 

When Pollock Park was closed in November, 2017 due to soil
contamination, a health warning was posted there by authorities.

The grant will provide $56,704 to perform the comprehensive scope of work which includes soil tests, installing and monitoring ground water wells, data validation, reporting of results and drafting of a DEP-approved remediation plan.

“Pollock Park is a very important park to the surrounding residential neighborhood and to Pottstown at large, and it has real potential as a destination park with appeal to the wider community,” said Pottstown Parks and Recreation Director Michael Lenhart. 

“This DCED grant, supported by the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority, is crucial support for the effort to restore a key Pottstown recreation space to public use. The Borough offers its sincere thanks to PA DCED and Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority for their support of the Borough’s Parks and Recreation system.”

“This investment will provide the neighborhood with a recreational space that will promote a sense of

Before being stalled by the discovery of contamination, a 

new master plan for the park's revitalization was created.

community while ensuring the preservation of public health and safety,” said DCED Secretary Dennis Davin. “The Borough’s leadership in remediating this space will serve as a benefit to the residents of Pottstown both now and in the future.”

The Industrial Sites Reuse Program provides loans and grants for environmental assessments and remediation carried out by eligible applicants who did not cause or contribute to the contamination. 

The program is designed to foster the cleanup of environmental contamination at industrial sites, thereby bringing blighted land into productive reuse.

For more information about the Industrial Sites Reuse program or DCED, visit www.dced.pa.gov.