The City of Norristown is home to an estimated 34,510 residents, and it’s located in Montgomery County, PA.
This report will help you become better acquainted with Norristown and the surrounding area by addressing the following questions:
Are there any hazardous sites in Montgomery County, PA?
How clean is the air in Montgomery County, PA?
What’s the average radon level for homes in Montgomery County, PA?
Is the water in Montgomery County, PA safe to drink?
Hazardous Sites near Norristown, PA
There are 17 Superfund sites in Montgomery County, PA. Superfund sites, like Tysons Dump in Upper Merion Twp, PA, are areas that have been contaminated with hazardous substances. If not for the cleanup efforts orchestrated by the EPA, these sites could endanger people living in nearby communities.
The EPA uses the Hazardous Ranking System (HRS) to quantify the risk a contaminated site poses to human health and the environment. Sites assigned HRS scores of 28.5 or greater qualify for placement on the National Priorities List (NPL), and are eligible to receive federal funding for cleanup efforts.
Before the EPA deletes a site from the NPL, it conducts reviews to ensure the cleanup was sufficient. As a result, some sites remain on the active site list long after cleanup activities are complete.
For more information about the Superfund sites located in the Norristown, PA area, be sure to review the map and background information provided below:
Map Legend:
42091
A. Tysons Dump (HRS Score: 63)
The Tysons Dump site, where disposal of septic and chemical waste in unlined lagoons took place from 1962 to 1973, is located in Upper Merion Twp, PA.
Contaminants found at the Tysons Dump site include:
Aluminum
Arsenic
Barium
Benzene
Beryllium
42091
B. Raymark (HRS Score: 53)
The Raymark site, where automotive parts were manufactured by Raymark Industries from 1919 to 1989, is located in Hatboro, PA.
Contaminants found at the Raymark site include:
Tetrachloroethene
1,2-Dichloroethene (Cis And Trans Mixture)
Trichloroethene
Cis-1,2-Dichloroethene
1,1-Dichloroethene
42091
C. Baghurst Drive (HRS Score: 50)
The Baghurst Drive site, where residential wells were found to be contaminated, is located in Harleysville, PA.
42091
D. Borit Asbestos (HRS Score: 50)
The Borit Asbestos site, where asbestos products were disposed by a nearby manufacturing plant, is located in Ambler, PA.
Contaminants found at the Borit Asbestos site include:
The Crater Resources, Inc./Keystone Coke Co./Alan Wood Steel Co. site, consisting of four inactive quarries, is located in Upper Merion Township, PA.
Contaminants found at the Crater Resources, Inc./Keystone Coke Co./Alan Wood Steel Co. site include:
Aluminum
Arsenic
Barium
Benzene
Beryllium
42091
F. Salford Quarry (HRS Score: 50)
The Salford Quarry site, a dump for industrial, commercial, and residential waste, is located in Lower Salford Township, PA.
Contaminants found at the Salford Quarry site include:
Aluminum
Antimony
Arsenic
Barium
Cadmium
42091
G. Willow Grove Naval Air and Air Reserve Station (HRS Score: 50)
The Willow Grove Naval Air and Air Reserve Station site, comprised of the Former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove and the Willow Grove Air Reserve Station, is located in Horsham, PA.
Contaminants found at the Willow Grove Naval Air and Air Reserve Station site include:
Arsenic
Barium
Benzene
Chloroform
Chromium
42091
H. Occidental Chemical Corp./Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. (HRS Score: 46)
The Occidental Chemical Corp./Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. site, where four consecutive owners disposed of industrial wastes at the 250-acre area, is located in Lower Pottsgrove Township, PA.
Contaminants found at the Occidental Chemical Corp./Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. site include:
Antimony
Arsenic
Barium
Benzene
Cadmium
42091
I. Commodore Semiconductor Group (HRS Score: 42)
The Commodore Semiconductor Group site, where computer chips were manufactured from 1970 to 1993, is located in Lower Providence Township, PA.
Contaminants found at the Commodore Semiconductor Group site include:
Chloroform
1,2-Dichloroethane
Bromodichloromethane
1,2-Dichlorobenzene
1,2-Dichloroethene (Cis And Trans Mixture)
42091
J. Henderson Road (HRS Score: 42)
The Henderson Road site, an area used by the O’Hara Sanitation Company for waste storage and recycling, is located in Upper Merion Township, PA.
Contaminants found at the Henderson Road site include:
Barium
Benzene
Cadmium
Chloroform
Chromium
42091
K. North Penn - Area 1 (HRS Score: 36)
The North Penn - Area 1 site, where various dry cleaning facilities operated, is located in Souderton, PA.
Contaminants found at the North Penn - Area 1 site include:
Benzene
Chloroform
Chloromethane
Tetrachloroethene
1,1,1-Trichloroethane
42091
L. North Penn - Area 2 (HRS Score: 36)
The North Penn - Area 2 site, home to an Ametek facility which manufactured precision springs and reels from 1963 until 1986, is located in Hatfield, PA.
Contaminants found at the North Penn - Area 2 site include:
Antimony
Arsenic
Cadmium
Chromium
Iron
42091
M. North Penn - Area 5 (HRS Score: 36)
The North Penn - Area 5 site, an industrial area which contaminated groundwater within the North Penn Water Authority service district, is located in Montgomery Township, PA.
Contaminants found at the North Penn - Area 5 site include:
1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane
1,1-Dichloroethene
Cis-1,2-Dichloroethene
Trichloroethene
1,2-Dichloroethane
42091
N. North Penn - Area 6 (HRS Score: 36)
The North Penn - Area 6 site, an industrialized area where several water wells were contaminated, is located in Lansdale, PA.
Contaminants found at the North Penn - Area 6 site include:
Cis-1,2-Dichloroethene
Tetrachloroethene
Trichloroethene
Chloroethene (Vinyl Chloride)
42091
O. North Penn - Area 7 (HRS Score: 36)
The North Penn - Area 7 site, home to five different industrial plants, is located in North Wales, PA.
Contaminants found at the North Penn - Area 7 site include:
Chromium
Iron
Chloroethene (Vinyl Chloride)
Trichloroethene
42091
P. Stanley Kessler (HRS Score: 34)
The Stanley Kessler site, whose former operations included the degreasing and repackaging of welding wire, is located in King Of Prussia, PA.
Contaminants found at the Stanley Kessler site include:
Benzene
Chloroform
Cis-1,2-Dichloroethene
Toluene
1,1-Dichloroethene
42091
Q. North Penn - Area 12 (HRS Score: 29)
The North Penn - Area 12 site, home to a former Nike missile control facility, is located in Worcester, PA.
Contaminants found at the North Penn - Area 12 site include:
Chloroform
Cis-1,2-Dichloroethene
1,1-Dichloroethene
1,2-Dichloroethene (Cis And Trans Mixture)
Tetrachloroethene
Air Quality in the Norristown, PA Area
The two most widespread forms of air pollution are ozone (smog) and particle pollution (soot). Exposure to these harmful pollutants, for even just a short period, can have adverse effects on your health.
Thanks to data collected by air monitoring equipment located across the country, the American Lung Association (ALA) is able to assess and track our air quality using three metrics:
Ozone
Short-term Particle Pollution
Year-round Particle Pollution
In their 2019 annual report, the ALA rated the air quality in Montgomery County, PA as follows:
Ground-LevelOzone Pollution
Grading Scale: A-F
Short-TermParticle Pollution
Grading Scale: A-F
Year-RoundParticle Pollution
Grading Scale: Pass/Fail
DNC (Data Not Collected): Data on associated pollutants were not collected in this county or county equivalent.INC (Incomplete): Associated pollutants are being monitored in this county or county equivalent, but data were insufficient to assign a grade.
Radon Levels in Norristown, PA Area
Air quality inside your home can be impacted by a number of factors, including the presence of hazardous substances in building materials (asbestos, lead, formaldehyde, etc.) and local radon levels.
Radon is a naturally occurring gas you cannot see or smell. It can build up inside your home and negatively impact your indoor air quality as well as your health.
To provide a guideline, the EPA assigned one of three zones to each U.S. county and county equivalent:
Zone 1 (higher radon levels)
Zone 2 (moderate levels)
Zone 3 (lower levels)
The average indoor radon reading in Montgomery County, PA is predicted to be higher than 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), so the county has been assigned EPA Radon Zone 1.
EPA Radon Zone
The EPA Recommends acting to reduce your home's radon level if it's measured at 4 pCi/L or greater. So, if you're thinking about purchasing a home in Norristown, PA, you should strongly consider having a radon test performed.
Water Quality in Norristown, PA Area
In accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA sets regulatory limits for drinking water contaminants known to cause adverse health effects.
The following Montgomery County, PA water provider(s) violated the maximum allowable level for one or more regulated contaminants:
In addition to setting enforceable standards for harmful contaminants, the EPA also established guidelines to assist public water providers in managing the taste, odor and color of their drinking water.
To find out more about what’s in your drinking water, contact your utility company and request a copy of the latest Consumer Confidence Report.
Sources and Methods
Hazardous Sites: Identified using a report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hazardous sites detailed on trendingtowns.com represent sites contained on the National Priorities List (NPL) as of November 25, 2019. The NPL is the list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States and its territories. All site-related data was sourced from the EPA.
Air Quality: Grades for ozone, short-term particle pollution, and year-round particle pollution were obtained from State of the Air 2019, a report compiled by the American Lung Association.
Radon Zones: Radon zone designations were obtained using a public use dataset provided by the EPA (September 11, 2019).
Water Quality: Drinking water violation data was sourced from the Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), a public use database provided by the EPA. The dataset included violations submitted to the database as of the third quarter of 2019.
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