How Philly is Cleaning One of its Most Hazardous Sites

City Cast Philly · Mar 30, 2026 · 29m

For residents of Port Richmond in the Northeast, the Franklin Slag Pile is a familiar sight. It's a huge black mound at the corner of Castor and Delaware Avenues, covered in a tarp, fenced off behind chain link. The pile may not look like much, but the Environmental Protection Agency has deemed it one of the most hazardous sites in Philadelphia. Now, more than 20 years after declaring the Franklin Slag Pile a Superfund site, the EPA says it's going to start cleanup in the coming months. Reporter Jordan Gass-Poore joins senior producer Abby Fritz to talk about why this effort has taken so long…