County presents completed EPA brownfields cleanup at 400 Washington Street in Easton
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Summary
County staff and consultants told the Economic Development Committee that an EPA Brownfields‑funded cleanup at 400 Washington Street removed more than 800 tons of contaminated soil (about 1,000 pounds of lead), used a risk‑based approach for a recreational end use, and has an Act 2 report under PADEP review.
County staff and environmental consultants updated the Northampton County Economic Development Committee on a completed EPA Brownfields cleanup at 400 Washington Street in Easton, a site the county and partners plan to use as a trailhead and recreational access point.
Jared Masse of the Greater Eastern Development Partnership said the group acquired the property from Norfolk Southern with the goal of supporting a trailhead and eventual broader recreational connections. "We purchased the site knowing that there was gonna be some environmental challenges on it," he said, and noted the work positioned the site for future recreational development alongside partners that include the city of Easton, Trust for Public Land and DCNR.
Greg, the county’s environmental consultant with AMO Environmental Solutions, described the technical work. He said grid sampling identified lead and arsenic as the primary contaminants. The cleanup strategy used a risk‑based approach appropriate to a recreational end use: impacted lead areas were excavated, arsenic locations were evaluated and in some cases left with deed restrictions limiting site use to recreation. When the extent of lead contamination proved greater than anticipated, the grant was increased by about $200,000 to accommodate additional excavation.
"In total we removed over 800 tons of soil which equates to over 1,000 pounds of lead removed from the soil," Greg said. He added the final Act 2 report was submitted roughly three weeks earlier and that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) has 90 days to review the submission.
The consultants told the committee the work used EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan/Grant funding and that the project is being presented at the Pennsylvania Brownfields Conference next month. No public comments were received during the project's public notice period, the consultant said.
County officials did not seek a vote; the presentation served to update committee members on remediation progress, remaining regulatory review and the site's planned recreational use.