Philadelphians were alerted last month to possible industrial pollutants spilling over the Bartram’s Mile Trail at Bartram’s Garden. Authorities have assured everyone that there are few to no environmental or health impacts, but lingering concerns about their response remain. It should be noted that Bartram’s Garden is fully open and they’ve taken precautions to ensure visitor safety and prevent contact with the nearby pollution discussed in this post.

It was a visitor who eventually alerted local officials and Bartram’s Garden about the situation in July, although the odd green substance, later determined to be chromium, was first seen in April. It is not clear why there was such a reporting delay or why the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (PADEP) did not notify potentially affected parties about the possibly hazardous liquid.  Once PADEP determined that the substance was not a direct threat to the drinking water supply because the location was well downstream of the drinking water intakes, it was deemed a non-threat overall and no further notifications were warranted. However, although it was not a drinking water issue, and although it is considered low risk to aquatic environments, contact with chromium can pose health concerns.  Chromium is considered a mutagen by the EPA. Some forms of the metal present a cancer risk after prolonged inhalation or ingestion, and acute effects involve skin damage and allergic reactions.  PADEP acknowledged that the recent Bartram’s sampling found 4 of 11 soil samples exceeded their standard.  While, again, there was no hazard to drinking water, we think these potential exposures were serious enough to merit a swifter public notice on the part of PADEP.

PADEP also concluded that although the substance was a potential pollutant and presented an ongoing issue, it did not constitute an environmental violation. Both the Philadelphia Water Department and the Philadelphia Fire Department Hazardous Materials Unit determined there was no contaminated runoff – and it is indeed possible that the ooze was coming from the subsurface. The entire area is underlain by highly porous sand and gravel, so contaminated liquids could move easily through the ground. Still, the trail walker observed some overland flow at this point and there is likely some subsurface contact with river water. In both instances it is safe to say the substance is getting into the river whether it’s a clear regulatory violation or not.

What’s concerning is the lack of regulatory curiosity as to where this green ooze is coming from. Chromium is a byproduct of steel manufacturing and this land area adjacent to Bartram’s Garden has a long history of industrial use, and specifically, steel production. The Ryerson company manufactured steel nearby and was in operation for at least half a century. A 1980 study by the USGS found a tiny percentage of groundwater samples collected in Philadelphia exceeded the EPA standard for chromium and these concentrations were attributed to industrial processes.  While the 1980 USGS study did not find a widespread problem in Philadelphia, another Ryerson steel plant in Oregon was cited by the EPA as a contributor to a Superfund site.  ALL samples taken as part of that environmental study contained chromium.

We believe the likely source of the chromium at Bartram’s Garden is the old steel plant one quarter of a mile away. If that is the source of the chromium, we wonder how widespread this contamination is, and we believe it warrants a broader investigation prior to adaptive reuse at this site. At a minimum, Bartram’s Garden and Southwest Philadelphia residents should be provided detailed information from the state about the risks to park visitors, nearby neighbors, and the general public.

For further information about the incident and conditions on the ground, Bartram’s Garden has an informative webpage.

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One group at a time walked across the meadow to the Bike Hub where all of the youth were able to find a bike just their size and traverse the traffic garden set up along the main path.  Bike Hub Manager, Jack, created a course with chalk and cones with both a beginner path and a more experienced path with a lava zone where youth had to stay on a very small area to avoid the lava. The youth were excited to get on bikes and loop around the course, having fun and growing their bike handling skills.

We wrapped up in the Air Conditioned Barn with snacks and a quick debrief and invitation for all of the young people to tell their family and friends to come back to the Bartram’s Bike Hub anytime we are open on Friday’s 3-6pm and Saturdays 10-2 through the fall!

You, too, can experience the joy of biking at Bartram’s Garden.
Join us at the Bike Hub every Friday 3-6pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm.
The Bike Hub offers a rotating list of classes and rides including:

• Free Bike Rentals to use at the gardens
• Learn to Ride Classes for Kids and Adults
• Beginner Bike Rides of the Bartram Mile
• Bike Maps and Info about Bike Safety Materials in English, Spanish, Simple Chinese, Russian, Haitian Creole  & Vietnamese

More info about classes and rides as well as registration are available on the Bartram’s Garden online calendar.

#Shoutout to Rec Leaders, Ms. Lisa and Ms. Kecia for coordinating the day, and Bartram’s Garden staff for supporting the planning, coordinating and ensuring we had plenty of cold water!

This post originally appeared at https://bicyclecoalition.org/bartrams-garden-bike-hub-hosts-a-summer-camp/

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TrailOff is a new, cutting-edge app featuring 10 original audio dramas, totally free-to-download, that unfold on  Circuit Trails across the Philadelphia region. This audio storytelling app puts YOU in the center of the drama! Get out onto a trail and let a 360° world swirl around you. Literally step into the shoes of characters as they run from monsters, uncover clues to mysteries or adventure into unknown secrets from the past in stories synced to you in real-time!

Created by Swim Pony and the PA Environmental Council (PEC), this FREE project aims to diversify the stories we imagine when we think about nature. TrailOff uses your phone’s technology to transport you into an augmented reality world that syncs to your movements as you walk a trail. Each story is uniquely crafted for its site, written by incredible local authors who will explore the way you think about
taking a walk outside. This is NOT your grandma’s nature trail!

This structured 1-mile walk will follow the new Afrofuturist audio drama Chronicles Of Asylum by Philadelphia author and artist Li Sumpter of MythMediaStudios, available for free download through TrailOff:

Set in future Philadelphia circa 2045 on the eve of a major cosmic event, Chronicles of Asylum follows savvy young journalist Liliquoi Brown as she investigates an otherworldly urban myth in hopes of finding two missing visitors to a refugee camp on the Schuylkill River. Exploring survival and sacrifice, home and exile, humanity’s fate and hope for the future, Chronicles follows the path of this unexpected trailblazer.

The story walk will take approximately one hour but can accommodate participants moving at a slower pace.

How To Use

To use TrailOff download the app to your phone, explore the 10 stories, and pick a trail you want to try. In the app, you can download a story and get directions to the trail by car or public transport. Once you arrive hit “Begin” and start walking! During your story, follow the path and directions from the app. If you accidentally stray from the path, a sound will let you know you’ve gone off route. The story will follow YOUR pace, so take as long as you like to explore. If you need to leave, you can always return and pick up where you left off.

After finishing a trail, you’ll even get some bonus features to keep you busy on the walk back!

TrailOff Guided AfroFuturist Story Walk at Bartram’s Garden

You can try a guided TrailOff Walk at Bartram’s Garden during our first Family Outdoor Movie Night of the summer on Friday, June 24, 6-7 pm. This structured 1-mile walk will follow the new Afrofuturist audio drama Chronicles Of Asylum by Philadelphia author and artist Li Sumpter of MythMediaStudios, available for free download now.

   Set in future Philadelphia circa 2045 on the eve of a major cosmic event, Chronicles of 

                                                    Asylum follows savvy young journalist Liliquoi Brown as she investigates an otherworldly

urban myth in hopes of finding two missing visitors to a refugee camp on the Schuylkill River.

Exploring survival and sacrifice, home and exile, humanity’s fate and hope for the future,

                                                    Chronicles follows the path of this unexpected trailblazer.

The story walk will take approximately one hour but can accommodate participants moving at a slower pace, and will finish with a Q&A with the author. Register for this event here.

To learn more about TrailOff, visit its website.

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Aqua Marooned! is a card game created by Philly-based immersive experience company Swim Pony that encourages humor and emotional connection with the flora and fauna of the Lenapehoking region. Bartram’s Garden is one of 20 different regional environmental centers where it premiered at this spring; each location is connected to the Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River (AWE) and has its own unique, location-specific card deck.

How to Play

Though Aqua Marooned! takes inspiration from traditional party games like Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity, this card game isn’t one meant to be played sitting at a table indoors.  The game’s beautifully-illustrated cards cast players in groups of three or more as extraterrestrial explorers sent to explore earth’s mysterious “watersphere”, i.e. at your participating AWE nature center, park, or wildlife refuge.

Using vibrant pictures of plants, animals, and the environment, players are sent on a “mission” that playfully invites players to call on their powers of observation, inventiveness, or wit. Card challenges include things that ask players to get creative (Find a dead thing and give it a heartfelt eulogy. Most heartfelt wins.), use their bodies (Race to the nearest body of water), and reflect on the natural world (Define what “nature” is and is not). Though suitable for ages 12 and up, the game is aimed specifically at teens and adults.

Aqua Marooned!’s cards are designed especially for the 23 Centers in the AWE Alliance but can also be played anywhere one finds the outdoors. In addition to the core deck of cards, 20 participating AWE sites have developed expansion decks featuring additional missions that can be folded into the basic game with content unique to their sites. Swim Pony has also developed a super-sized Lenape expansion deck, created in collaboration with a circle of local Lenape advisors, to give players an opportunity to delve into the Indigenous perspectives on the land as well. For more information about where to find the game or the outreach events programmed for this fall visit the Lenapehoking~Watershed website, Facebook, or  Instagram for dates, times, and locations.

Aqua Marooned! at Bartram’s Garden

Visit the Garden’s Welcome Center, open every day 9AM-4PM, to grab your FREE Bartram’s Garden Aqua Marooned! deck and start your journey. Swim Pony will also be at the first 2022 Family Outdoor Movie Night at the Garden on Friday, June 24, 2022, with decks and more information about the game.

Aqua Marooned! was conceived by Adrienne Mackey, founder and artistic director of Swim Pony, an experience design company that develops innovative, immersive experiences of play. During the course of its three-year development, the company collaborated with illustrator/graphic designers Meg Lemieur and Bri Barton, co-writer Brad Wrenn, representatives from 19 different AWE Centers, and a Lenni-Lenape Advisory Circle led by Trinity Norwood, Project Advisor for the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation. 

More about Lenapehoking~Watershed Art Project: The L~W Art Project is a wide-ranging, multifaceted art project that wants to introduce Lenapehoking residents to their watershed. A program of the Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River (AWE), this initiative winds its way through the landscapes and waterways of the Delaware River Watershed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Aqua Marooned! is one of two innovative and completely unique artist-driven projects activating the AWE environmental education centers as part of Lenapehoking~Watershed. The other is Water Spirit, a series of plant-based sculptures by Sarah Kavage that serve as focal points for events and community gatherings. The name, “Lenapehoking~Watershed, a place for water, art and culture” was chosen after consulting with citizens of our local Lenni Lenape Nations. “Lenapehoking” is a place name that means “the land of the Lenape people.” Foremost, as this is an initiative about the land and the water, the L~W team acknowledges Indigenous cultures’ environmental stewardship as critical. Lenapehoking~Watershed offers multiple opportunities for inspiration, refreshment, and learning. Encouraging others to discover new things, meet new people at outdoor cultural gatherings, and enjoy solitary meditations on art and nature.

Lead support for the Lenapehoking~Watershed is provided by the William Penn Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Barra Foundation, the Delaware Division for the Arts, the Joseph Robert Foundation, and the Velocity Fund. 

About Alliance for Watershed Education: The Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River is a regional initiative of twenty-three partnering environmental education centers that is funded and supported by the William Penn Foundation. Each of these centers is located along the Circuit Trail or a major connecting trail, and on waterways throughout the Delaware River Watershed in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Through joint programming like the annual River Days events, and shared best practices, the centers aim to increase their collective impact within the watershed and its communities. 

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