Cleanup

Buried drums of oil waste discovered in August 1986 at the Mobil Oil Corp.' s Paulsboro refinery have not been excavated, and the company and the state Department of Environmental Protection are stalled on beginning cleanup. "We want to clean up the site and the DEP wants us to," said Carole Edwards, spokeswoman for Mobil, "but we want an evenhanded agreement. " Mobil, which employs 900 people and has a daily process capacity of 100,000 barrels of crude oil at the refinery, contends that the administrative consent order for cleanup contains unacceptable legal provisions.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The first thing Jim Thome noticed were the grunts coming from the batting cage. For a slugger who swings viciously, Hunter Pence was a beautiful sight. His weird hacks produce batting-practice bombs. Thome and the others around the cage spend each morning admiring the longest shot, which typically clears Frenchy's tiki bar beyond left field. Thome approves, typically with a smile or a fist bump. Manager Charlie Manuel dutifully watches, too, as he contemplates life without Ryan Howard.

Gov. Kean yesterday signed into law a new standard of liability for environmental-cleanup contractors that could allow them to find insurance more easily. Kean signed amendments to the state's Spill Compensation and Control Act that would narrow the standard of liability for the contractors so that they could be sued only for direct cases of negligence. Under the old provisions of the law, contractors and engineers could be held strictly liable for any damages at an environmental-cleanup site, regardless of whether they were at fault.

Workers dressed in protective clothing continue demolition of the Lansdowne warehouse whose legacy is radium contamination at more than two dozen Delaware County properties. EPA officials say discarded sand from the warehouse, a radium-processing plant from 1915 to 1925, was used in building materials. Dismantlement began in early February, and the walls will be down in the next two to three days. Other work at the site will continue, however.

A cleanup of streets and public areas in business districts of Lower Merion Township will be held Saturday under the auspices of the township and the Main Line Chamber of Commerce. Volunteers from local businesses will conduct the cleanup. In addition, SEPTA will collect debris around two of its commuter-railway stations in the township, said F. Karl Schauffele, chamber president. "Some of our business districts look shabby," Schauffele said. "We need help to ensure that all Lower Merion business areas will be inviting and attractive areas to visit, work and shop.

Mayor Dana L. Redd on Tuesday initiated the Camden Clean Campaign, a citywide effort to improve neighborhoods. Wachovia and PNC Banks provided most of the campaign's funding with a combined donation of $30,000. The city has been working with residents to designate lots and parks for cleanup and to set dates. Redd said trash "came up over and over" as an issue during her mayoral campaign last fall and that she had "promised to do something about it. " "Our quality of life is being affected," Redd said.

SATURDAY, May 18, is the date of the official Fairmount Park cleanup, the "7th annual Philadelphia Cares About Fairmount Park Day. " But we're hoping that Thursday, May 16, also represents a cleanup of sorts - of the Fairmount Park Commission. That's the day that Common Pleas Court judges vote on concurrent five-year terms for 10 members of the commission. This year's selection has garnered unprecedented attention, and an unprecedented number of candidates: Eight incumbents who want to remain and 35 new candidates.

Preparations for cleaning up of portions of the Paoli railyard that are contaminated with toxic chemicals are expected to begin Feb. 24. How that effort will be funded may be decided in federal court, according to a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency. An EPA report made public Jan. 30 shows that levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the rail complex and repair facility and on six adjacent residential properties have risen since tests were first conducted on those sites in 1979.

It has been nine months since Burlington County residents joined members of the ecumenical Christian housing ministry Habitat for Humanity for a walk from Maine to Atlanta, stopping briefly in Mount Holly for a formal dedication of a simple rowhouse. On Saturday, the group hopes to begin cleanup of that house. Volunteers and clergy members came out to the First Presbyterian Church Tuesday night in the icy aftermath of Mount Holly's second winter storm to plan the cleanup. Built about a century ago, 36 White St. is an unassuming rowhouse.

When the cleanup of the radiation-contaminated twin home at 105-107 E. Stratford Ave. in Lansdowne Borough is completed sometime in April 1989, officials expect the property to be "a nice, flat, grassy lot. " That is the situation envisioned by Ray Huston, a project manager with Chem-Nuclear Systems of Columbia, S. C., the company that has been awarded a $6 million contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the piece-by-piece removal of...

AS BOTH feet landed on the plate, his face contorted under the conflict of disparate emotions, like a man who found $100 on the street after hitting a dog with his car. Hunter Pence looked apologetic and happy all at once, held his arms out as he touched home Tuesday as if simultaneously pleading for forgiveness and accepting it. "I think," he said after his 10th-inning home run won a game that his ninth-inning error endangered, "it was just...

Volunteers in the fifth annual Philly Spring Cleanup swept streets and helped clean parks Saturday, encouraging residents to "Keep Up the Sweep Up. " The Streets Department helped start the cleaning initiative with a morning celebration at the Kingsessing Recreation Center and park in Southwest Philadelphia. Steve Smith, facilities supervisor for the park, said volunteers collected more than 60 bags of trash in his area alone. Smith, 51, said the work began about 8 a.m. and lasted until just after noon.

HUNDREDS of volunteers will span the city Saturday armed with trash bags, paint, brooms and more for the fifth annual Philly Spring Cleanup - an event that in years past has drawn a total of 45,000 people who removed 2,900 tons of trash from Philadelphia's streets and vacant lots. Carlton Williams, deputy streets commissioner, said past Spring Cleanups have taught him that tackling litter and dumping, and changing the collective mind-set concerning these pervasive quality-of-life issues, can't be done in a single day. The theme for this year's cleanup is "Keep Up the Sweep Up," which is aimed at encouraging Philadelphians to use the event as a launching point to continue beautifying their neighborhoods and others all year long.

IT HASN'T started yet, but the fifth-annual Philly Spring Cleanup is on its way to making history. This year, 347 neighborhood cleanup projects were submitted to the Streets Department - eclipsing last year's total of 252, and 231 from 2010. The number of volunteers registered to participate in this year's event will likely surpass the record of 12,574 set in 2011. To help make that happen, register with the Streets Department to work at a cleanup site at tinyurl.com/phillycleanup.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran on Tuesday rejected allegations that it attempted to clean up radioactive traces possibly left by secret nuclear work at a key military site before granting U.N. inspectors permission to visit the facility. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in Tehran that the allegations were misleading and false, and insisted that such traces could not be cleaned up. Satellite images of Iran's Parchin military facility that circulated last week appeared to show trucks and earthmoving vehicles at the location.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The first thing Jim Thome noticed were the grunts coming from the batting cage. For a slugger who swings viciously, Hunter Pence was a beautiful sight. His weird hacks produce batting-practice bombs. Thome and the others around the cage spend each morning admiring the longest shot, which typically clears Frenchy's tiki bar beyond left field. Thome approves, typically with a smile or a fist bump. Manager Charlie Manuel dutifully watches, too, as he contemplates life without Ryan Howard.

MORE THAN a million pounds of trash were removed from streets and vacant lots during the 2011 Philly Spring Cleanup last April, and the Streets Department is looking for volunteers to help remove garbage, discarded tires and other debris left to fester in neighborhoods since. Volunteer registration for this year's cleanup opened this week, and the Streets Department is accepting project proposals for this year's event through March 30. "The Streets Department is looking for projects that lead to long-term sustainable solutions to neighborhood blight and litter conditions," said Carlton Williams, deputy streets commissioner.

Notice all that trash swirling around Philadelphia neighborhoods, tossed about by the recent heavy winds? Today, you have a chance to do something about it. Registration opens for residents who want to volunteer, or submit project proposals, for the city's Fifth Annual Philly Spring Cleanup. Organizations can submit project proposals until March 30. The cleanup, which is run by the Philadelphia Streets Department, is scheduled for Saturday, April 14. The motto: "Keep Up the Sweep Up!"

MAYOR NUTTER will launch the countdown for the city's fifth-annual spring cleanup at an outdoor rally at 1 p.m. tomorrow at McPherson Square Park, in Kensington. The actual cleanup is Saturday, April 14. The mayor will encourage residents to sign up to work on the clean sweep and get organizations to submit projects for the program. As part of the kickoff, rapper Tone Love will perform his song, "Come Clean, Go Green. " Last year, more than 200,000 volunteers participated in the program.

While New Jersey has long been saddled with the dubious distinction of having the most toxic waste sites on the Superfund National Priorities List, it might have been a lot worse. At least 27 sites in the state - including four in Camden County - scored high enough on the numerical ranking system used to qualify for federal funding and assistance for cleanups, but were not added to the list by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to agency documents obtained by an interest group under the Freedom of Information Act. New Jersey has 144 toxic waste sites on the list, many of which have been awaiting cleanup for decades.