The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to use a drone-mounted camera to photograph isolated areas of the Ambler Asbestos Piles Superfund Site in Ambler, Pennsylvania on December 7.
The photographs will allow the agency to better judge the efficacy of its site remedy.
The drone, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District, has a wingspan of two feet and is two feet long by one foot high. It will fly exclusively over the Superfund site, an area of approximately 25 acres that is contained by Wissahickon Creek, Butler Pike, Locust Street and Church Street.
This was the first time the EPA has used a drone for the Ambler Asbestos Piles site, and it allowed the agency to garner valuable information about areas that are not easily accessible. With this new information, the EPA is better equipped to determine if its efforts at the site are still effectively benefiting human and environmental health.
The EPA also recently hosted an informational outreach session with local residents.
EPA uses drone to inspect Pennsylvania’s Ambler Asbestos Piles Superfund Site
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