Comment sought on remediation plan for Osprey Point

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is soliciting public comment on a proposed remediation plan for pollution found on portions of the parcel where Osprey Point housing development is located, off Old Landing Road near Rehoboth Beach.

According to a Dec. 8 notice announcing the request for comments, the site, which used to be home to the 18-hole Old Landing Golf Course, requires a restriction on future use of groundwater.

Already under construction, Osprey Point is a development of 217 single-family lots on 132 acres. Prior to 1968, the site was used for agriculture; golf course operations took place on the site from about 1968 until 2017. The subdivision borders Arnell Creek, a tributary of Rehoboth Bay.

In November 2016, after much discussion and a reduction in the number of proposed dwellings, Sussex County Council unanimously approved a rezoning of the parcel from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to MR-RPC, medium-density, residential-planned community. In February, the county planning and zoning commission approved a preliminary site plan for the project.

In 2017, Georgetown-based Duffield Associates conducted a remedial investigation at the site. According to the proposed remediation plan, the investigation confirmed pesticides were used on the golf course, resulting in hot spots of the pesticide chlordane and the metals arsenic, chromium, mercury and thallium, in the soils on select greens and sand traps. Concentration levels significantly exceed DNREC screening levels, the report says.

As an interim action, the report states, the property owner blended surface soils in the hot spots with soils up to 18 inches below ground surface. Additional soil samples were collected and found not to pose an unacceptable risk for residential use. Therefore, no additional remedial actions are necessary for soil, the report says.

However, due to elevated concentrations of the metals cobalt, iron, manganese and cyanide, the consumption of groundwater flowing beneath the site could cause an unacceptable human health risk. However, the development plans for Osprey Point include providing water from Sussex County, so residents will not be exposed to drinking groundwater. DNREC will require a restriction to be placed on the use of groundwater to prevent any potential future exposure to residents, the report states.

The proposed plan was signed Dec. 6 by Qazi Salahuddin, environmental program manager of DNREC’s Remediation Section, as meeting the requirements of the Hazardous Substance Cleanup Act.

Details of the proposed remediation plan are available at the DNREC offices of 391 Lukens Drive, New Castle, and 21309 Berlin Road, Suite 2, Georgetown, or online at nav.dnrec.delaware.gov/DEN3.

The comment period ends Monday, Dec. 30. For additional information, contact Lindsay Hall, project manager, at 302-395-2600 or via email at Lindsay.Hall@delaware.gov.