RIDLEY TOWNSHIP – The Ridley School District is a party to an investigation by the state Department of Environmental Protection concerning a matter dating back to 1983 when a contractor working on a former junior high school in the district disposed of asbestos material in a landfill in Montgomery County.
School board solicitor John F.X. Reilly told the board at its December meeting the Boyertown Landfill in Douglass Township is the subject of the investigation and the remediation of hazardous material.
‘There are dozens of parties that have been notified as well, including businesses, municipalities and school districts,’ Reilly said. ‘They call all these parties potentially responsible parties.’
Reilly said the DEP notified the district that Ridley may be responsible for a proportionate share of remediating the landfill. He noted the amount of waste for which Ridley is potentially responsible is very small.
‘But nevertheless, we are a potential responsible party,’ he said.
According to Reilly, Ridley and the other involved parties have agreed to have the law firm of Saul Ewing in Philadelphia represent the group collectively as the liaison counsel between the potential responsible parties and the DEP. The law firm will coordinate a response on behalf of all parties. He said Saul Ewing has expertise in environmental law and clean up of hazardous sites. By joining with the other parties involved in the matter, the Ridley district will be able to share in the cost and avoid duplicating effort. Reilly also noted the attorney representing Ridley and the other parties is Deborah Shuff, a Ridley High School graduate.
Reilly, who declined to name any of the other parties involved, said there is no cost estimate of what the matter could cost the district.
‘We are waiting for a response from the DEP … we haven’t discussed or negotiated a resolution. We are in the very early phase right now,’ Reilly said.
