The story of the site

What Happened Here, in Plain Words

The plant at 6300 Philadelphia Pike made chemicals for over a hundred years. For part of that time, it handled uranium for the government. Here’s the record — and the hole in it.

One arm of the government put this plant on its list to pay workers who got sick from radiation. Another arm says the same ground needs no test.

The gap CC4EJ is asking the EPA to close.

The timeline

circle = it happened square = decided, no test ring = neighbors pushing

1913
Chemical making begins at the site. Over the years the plant makes acids, DDT, and other chemicals.
1950s–1960s
Allied Chemical works with uranium for the Atomic Energy Commission. The government later says “at most a few pounds” were made. But the contracts are lost. No one knows where on the site the work happened.
Early 1970s
The part of the plant tied to the uranium work is torn down. The rubble goes to local landfills.
1977
Decided without testing: The Department of Energy calls the chance of contamination “insignificant” and closes the case. They looked at old papers. They made phone calls. They never tested the ground.
1987
Decided without testing: The site is dropped from the federal radioactive cleanup program (FUSRAP). Still no testing.
2000
The EPA orders a full investigation of the site’s chemical pollution. Over the years, testing finds arsenic, lead, and DDT in the soil, the groundwater, and the river mud. Radiation is not part of the testing.
2009
Neighbors moving things: Federal health experts (NIOSH) say the opposite of 1977. They find “potential for significant residual contamination” — meaning leftover radiation may still be there — from the late 1960s to 1977. Workers from those years can now claim federal help.
2016 & 2024
The EPA finishes its cleanup decisions. Most contamination is sealed under caps and left in place, not removed. The EPA says the groundwater is too hard to clean. The land is limited to industry — no homes without the EPA’s written OK.
Nov 2024
Neighbors moving things: Neighbors (CC4EJ) ask the EPA in writing to take a new look at the site for uranium.
Jan 2025
Decided without testing: The EPA says no to new testing — leaning on the same 1977 memo. “No current public health concern.”
Apr 2025
Neighbors moving things: A win: because neighbors kept pushing, the EPA adds the site’s uranium history to its official cleanup record for the first time ever. But it still won’t test.
May 2026
Neighbors moving things: CC4EJ and State Representative Larry Lambert send a letter to the EPA and to DNREC, Delaware’s state environmental agency. It asks four things. Test the whole site for radioactivity. Watch everything left behind. Post warnings people can understand. Make polluters — not the public — pay.
Now
Neighbors moving things: Neighbors are signing the petition, door to door. We deliver it to the EPA on July 20. Add your name.

What’s in the ground today?

Chemicals: testing found arsenic, lead, and the old pesticide DDT in soil, groundwater, and river mud. The cleanup sealed most of it under caps. It’s still there, managed in place.

Radiation: nobody knows. In all these years, no radiation testing has ever been done at the site. That’s the question we’re asking the EPA to answer.

Why it matters for our neighborhood

Claymont has carried more than its share of pollution for generations. The government’s own screening tool ranks our area near the top in the nation for living close to polluters. Our families deserve what any family would want: test it, show us the results, and clean up what you find.

Where these facts come from

U.S. DOE (Oak Ridge) memo, Dec 12, 1977 — “insignificant,” case closed without testing; contracts lost; work location unknown; “at most a few pounds”; uranium-era buildings torn down in the early 1970s, with the rubble “disposed of… in local landfills.”
DOE letter, Oct 1987 — site eliminated from FUSRAP.
EPA cleanup record under RCRA, the federal hazardous-waste law: 2000 cleanup order; 2016 and July 1, 2024 final decisions (caps, land-use limits, groundwater “technically impracticable” — too hard to clean); recorded legal restriction (2019) barring homes and wells.
EPA 2022 site investigation report (521 pages): findings for arsenic, lead, pesticides — and zero mentions of radiation testing.
NIOSH facility evaluation (2009 revision): “potential for significant residual contamination,” late 1960s–1977.
EPA letter to CC4EJ, Jan 23, 2025 (declining testing); EPA Memo to File, April 15, 2025 (uranium history added to the record).
CC4EJ and Rep. Larry Lambert letter to EPA & DNREC, May 1, 2026, with technical briefing packet.
EPA EJScreen data for the area around the site (CC4EJ briefing packet, May 2026).