The Poseidon Pools property was originally home to the Eberhard Pencil manufacturing company, built in the late 1950’s. The pencil operation moved out in the 1980’s and the property became a pool manufacturing and distribution company. Different forms of manufacturing occurred on the site over a period of nearly 50 years, creating many different environmental challenges prior to demolition.
Groundwater contamination had been identified in some monitoring wells. While most of the contamination was not sourced to the site, the Chamber was left with the task of dealing with the problem. Quad3 was commissioned to analyze contaminants and layout an action plan. Quad3 environmental scientists worked closely with the PA Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) to proceed through the Act II process. Shallow and deep water wells were sampled quarterly to analyze fluctuation in the concentration of contamination. The PA Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) provided funds through the Industrial Sites Reuse Program (ISRP) in order to complete the project.
The Act II status is in its final phase of approval and the site recently was regraded and expanded for future development. The location where the building once stood is a 12.5 acre “pad ready” site and a second pad of 8 acres was created at a higher elevation. The Chamber hopes to attract multiple new businesses to the site, creating hundreds of new jobs in the process.