As part of the Frog Switch redevelopment process, the Real Estate Collaborative (REC) was awarded environmental assistance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Office of Brownfields to support the remediation of the project site and promote the health and safety of the community. USEPA assigned the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center (Volpe), a USEPA contractor, to the project to conduct a Hazardous Building Materials Survey and an Interim Phase II Environmental Site Assessment comprised of soil sampling and a geophysical survey. EPA had expected to deliver those reports by the end of October 2025, but efforts were delayed due to the federal government shutdown.
The findings of these investigations are intended to serve as the foundation for evaluating residual environmental impacts at the site including the presence of hazardous materials within the building structures. Draft reports for both investigations were provided to REC in late December of 2025.
REC contracted with BL Companies Inc., a leading regional environmental and engineering firm, to prepare a summary of the voluminous and very technical reports in order to convey the site conditions to our stakeholders. This environmental summary report is posted here on the Frog Switch microsite.
The investigations to this point did not reveal anything unexpected or any existing conditions that would pose an imminent threat to human health or the environment — demonstrating that The Frog Switch Manufacturing Company was a good steward of the environment during its operations. The few contaminants that were found in the site soils were detected at levels consistent with industrial operations rather than conditions that would be indicative of major spills or irresponsible waste management activities. There will be additional investigation work completed in the coming months to better define the extent of any identified contaminant and to refine the remedial approach.
However, the Hazardous Building Materials Survey revealed significant levels of hazardous build materials in the two main manufacturing buildings. Both of the buildings are heavily contaminated by Asbestos Containing Materials and Lead-Based Paint surfaces. Contaminated Foundry Sand is also prevalent in very large quantities in the Foundry Building and must be removed prior to redevelopment.
All of the environmental issues identified in site soils are manageable via the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Voluntary Cleanup Program. The hazardous materials identified in the manufacturing buildings can most safely and cost-effectively be removed during building demolition activities. Absent total building demolition, costs to remove the hazardous materials in these buildings increases roughly 3 times.
REC has secured at least $1.5 million dollars to conduct site remediation and hazardous materials removal from the buildings and another $10.2 million to complete demolition of the contaminated buildings, conduct any additional remediation, and perform site security and stabilization activities. REC representatives are already meeting with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to gain formal approval of the remediation and hazardous materials removal. It is expected that remediation work may begin as soon as the second quarter of 2026.
As part of the remediation process, REC will be providing the remediation plan for public review and comment and will be holding a public information session prior to initiation of the remediation activities. Please stayed tuned to this microsite for announcements regarding the availability of the remedial plan and the date of the public information meeting.
