EPA Performing Follow-Up Review on Wildwood Property

A Wildwood property that was once used as a dumpsite is receiving yet another look from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA announced this month that it is preparing to conduct follow-up soil sampling near the proposed Strecker Forest subdivision on Strecker Road in Wildwood.

The EPA has previously said that during the 1970s drummed liquid and solid wastes were disposed on the property, and it was later designated a "super fund" site and cleaned up in the late 1990s.

It came back in to focus in 2007 when a developer sought to build the Strecker Forest subdvision on a tract of land near the former dump site. Whether any contamination remained has become a source of controversy. 

Last June, the EPA finished up an extensive review of the property. One of the findings was that two areas comprising approximately 1/2 acre in the northeast corner and along the eastern side of the property exceeded screening level concentrations for dioxin.

The EPA said it did not present any immediate threat, but fenced off the affected area in late 2012.

According to the EPA, the follow up samplings are an effort to characterize the environmental conditions of the vicinity of the proposed Strecker Forest subdivision to determine whether it would be suitable for residential development.

One of the goals will be to better define the concentration and volume of soils in the areas that tested for higher levels of dioxin.

According to the World Health Organization, dioxin is an environmental pollutant that is highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer.

Samples will be taken from the enclosed area, as well as portions of the neighboring Bliss property that are adjacent to the preservation area of the proposed Strecker Forest subdivision.

As a next step, the EPA said it will use this information to develop a plan to ensure the continued protection of human health and the environment based on the existing and future use of the site.