Community Corner
Highland Grove Swim Club to Remain Closed This Summer
Mayor John McCormac said the facility will reopen in 2014.
After the Highland Grove Swim Club in Fords closed down in July 2012 due to PCB contamination (polychlorinated biphenyl) found in the soil, it is unlikely the remediation will be complete in time for the club open up again this summer, according to the township.
A resident brought up the status of the swim club at the Aug. 6 council meeting where Mayor John McCormac noted that it would not open up this summer, but should hopefully be ready to go next summer.
“The contamination just was far more widespread and more intense than we ever thought from the early tests,” McCormac said.
The contamination to the soil was very likely brought to the site when the YMCA refurbished the pool in 1999, McCormac said at the time. The discovery was made in July of 2012 after the soil was tested due to a state law that calls for the testing at daycare facilities.
On Aug. 6 of 2012, McCormac held a special meeting with parents of the children who used the pool to inform them that the children were not at risk.
The soil contamination had previously been discovered and reported to the Department of Environmental Protection, but not to the township, McCormac explained in 2012.
Currently, the engineering firm T&M Associates is working to remediate the property at Highland Grove in order to meet the DEP’s standards.
Highland Grove Swim Club is a township owned facility that it is rented by the YMCA.
For a full look at the initial proposed soil excavation plan click, here.
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