It appears as though no environmental impacts were caused by an undetected spill from an acid tank located within the former New Jersey Zinc East Plant property in Palmerton last year.

Only one resident attended a public hearing conducted by the state Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday in the borough for anyone who had concerns about the sulfuric acid leak at the site at 900 Delaware Ave.Colleen Connolly, community relations coordinator, Department of Environmental Protection, Northeast Regional Office, was joined by James Kunkle, solid waste supervisor, Department of Environmental Protection, Northeast region."The DEP is confident no environmental impacts occurred as a result of this undetected spill," Connolly said. "The spill was limited to the emergency containment area, but had the potential to be dangerous to land around it had the acid leaked onto the ground."Connolly said, "State funding was in place to pay for this timely cleanup project."The DEP, under the authority of the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, initiated a prompt response at the site of the sulfuric acid leak, which involved an abandoned 5,000-gallon capacity above-ground carbon steel storage tank that contained concentrated liquid sulfuric acid and sludge.Connolly said one of DEP's inspectors was on site Oct. 30 taking water samples from the Aquashicola Creek when he discovered the leak.The tank was leaking acid into the diked concrete secondary containment area. The acid was dripping from the bottom of the tank at a plug into the containment area, which, at the time, contained about six inches of a brown liquid with white foam and an acidic odor. The pH was measured with pH paper and color pH indicator strips and found to bezero.No one was injured in the cleanup, according to DEP.The Aquashicola Creek is about 300 feet from the tank, and the closest residence is about 500 feet from the tank across the creek along Little Gap Road.The cleanup and neutralization of the tank and containment area was completed on Dec. 23, according to DEP.Wastes generated from the cleanup include acid sludge and contaminated debris stored in 12 55-gallon drums, and the acid solution stored in eight 275-gallon totes within secondary containment berms on the property.Kunkle said the acid, acidic rainwater-rinsewater solution, and sludge were removed from the tank and secondary containment area and disposed off-site at a hazardous waste treatment facility. The tank interior and secondary containment area were neutralized with soda ash (sodium carbonate) and rinsed, he said.The acid tank was registered as an above-ground hazardous substance storage tank with the Department by the Zinc Corp. of America, a subsidiary of Horsehead Industries Inc.The sulfuric acid, a 96 percent concentration, was used for pH reduction of the wastewater/groundwater treatment plant discharge most recently operated by Horsehead Industries Inc, which declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2002, and subsequently shut down the treatment plant.Horsehead Corp. acquired portions of the property in December 2003 from the bankruptcy court, not including the property on which the acid tank is located.Access to the site is through the entrance and the security guard shack of Horsehead Corp., who owns the property adjacent to the acid tank.The administrative record is available for review during library hours at the Palmerton Public Library, 402 Delaware Ave., Palmerton.