Pennsylvania Town Receives Additional Funding for Asbestos Cleanup

Ambler, PA - On Feb 22, 2009, State Senator Stewart Greenleaf, R-12th District, presented a check for $1 million to two businessmen who seek to redevelop the old Keasbey and Mattison (KM) site on South Maple Street in Ambler. John Westrum, CEO of Westrum Development, and John Zaharchuk of Summit Realty, added Greenleaf's funds to the $6 million the men have already collected in an effort to fund an extensive asbestos cleanup of the KM site.

In 1881, KM began manufacturing operations in Ambler, operations that included the production of asbestos-a known cancer-causing agent. KM's manufacturing activities resulted in widespread asbestos contamination at the Maple street location, as well as another Ambler site that has already been decontaminated due to its years-earlier designation as an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. Westrum and Zaharchuk estimate that it will cost $15 million to remediate the asbestos contamination at the Maple street site, which means the two businessmen need to raise an additional $8 million in funding in order to move forward with their extensive redevelopment plans.

Asbestos is a mineral that occurs abundantly in countries around the world. The material exists in a variety of colors, types, and chemical compositions, and it can be found in the soil or exposed outcroppings of rock. Once a popular material used by a broad spectrum of manufacturers, asbestos is now essentially banned in numerous countries around the globe. In the 1970s, researchers concluded that asbestos posed a significant risk to human health, and that all exposures to the extremely hazardous substance must be avoided.

When microscopic, airborne asbestos fibers are inhaled into the lungs, they can remain there undetected for decades before finally resulting in the onset of respiratory diseases such as asbestosis-a chronic illness characterized by severe scarring of lung tissues and greatly reduced lung function. Far more serious, asbestos exposures are linked to the aggressive and incurable lung cancer killer known as malignant pleural mesothelioma. Because of the severe toxicity of asbestos, and because its presence at the KM site is so extensive, proper remediation of the hazardous material is a time consuming and costly endeavor that must be completed before any new construction can begin.

Westrum's redevelopment plans focus on the building of 288 condominiums, while Zaharchuk wants to convert KM's existing boiler house into 43,000 square feet of new office space. Greenleaf, who supplied his district's funding to the developers via the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), says the planned redevelopment is badly needed. "This has been standing for four decades with environmental hazards, and no one has the money to remediate," said Greenleaf. "This money will be used to make it accessible, and that alone is worth the state effort."

In order to secure the remaining funds required for the cleanup, Westrum and Zaharchuk have proposed a plan wherein a tax increment financing structure is established by freezing pre-development taxes and relying on post-development tax revenues to repay a series of loans, this in addition to any RACP funding that might yet be forthcoming.

Greenleaf said he wouldn't expect any builder or developer to approach the project without some type of government or community-based asbestos remediation subsidization, and he stands ready to support the project in any way that he can. "This is a very unique project," said Greenleaf, "and this is going to have a great impact on the community."

A January 8 press release stated: "The project will ultimately result in a mixed-use, transit oriented development community that enhances the borough's revitalized downtown business district." Westrum and Zaharchuk estimate that, once funding is in place, complete asbestos remediation of the KM site could be completed in 12-15 months.

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