 Katie Caputo stumbled across information about a Superfund cleanup site in Williamsport and is striving to raise awareness. Riverkeeper's note: This column was written as the second in a two-part story package about a Superfund site in Williamsport. Check out the first post with details of this site by clicking here.
According to philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That is one of the major fears of Katie Caputo, who recently stumbled onto information about a Superfund pollution site in Williamsport that happened decades ago and very few people remember today. “More than 30 years had passed since the remedial action plan took effect and the decades seem to have eroded common knowledge of the site,” she shared after researching about AVCO Lycoming, a site where dangerous levels of potentially carcinogenic solvents have infiltrated the groundwater.
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 Riverkeeper's note: This is the first in a two-part story package on Superfund sites in our watershed. Check out Riverkeeper John Zaktansky's column on important lessons to learn from these sites by clicking here.
While searching online for various permits, rules and applications related to her outdoor guide service, Roambler.com, South Williamsport resident Katie Caputo stumbled across a document about pollution related to a local superfund site she knew nothing about. “I was intrigued by the title, so I began reading,” she said. “The truth is, it felt like I was reading something I wasn’t supposed to find. It also felt like I was reading something I should have already known about.” As she read over the 152-page report about the site and remediation efforts that continue to this day, Caputo was left with numerous questions and concerns.  Master Watershed Stewards Linda Rankin and Bonnie Simpson test water at a PA Wilds training session. Growing up in the “boonies” of Elk County, Travis Wingard savored every moment spent outside.
“I was a Boy Scout, worked on camp staffs. I hunted and I fished,” he said. “Everything seemed to revolve around living and playing in the outdoors.” However, after majoring in English and pursuing a teaching career where jobs dried up faster than expected, Wingard found himself working in local factories to make ends meet and regretting that he didn’t pursue something that focused on his love of our outdoor resources. “You look back and kind of want to kick yourself, saying ‘Oh, I should have joined DCNR or the DEP and been out in the field,’” he said. “That is where I was really having a lot of fun.”  The North Branch of the Susquehanna River, shown here in a photo by Angie Tuttle, is one of four finalists for the 2023 Pennsylvania River of the Year Award. As Angie Tuttle paddled and fished her way down the North Branch of the Susquehanna River from Howland Preserve to Riverside Park in Tunkhannock, she had a feeling something was watching her and following along.
“I just kept fishing and floating and then I heard cracking branches up on the bank,” she said. “I looked and saw a tiny little fox face looking around a tree at me! That little fox followed me for a while and kept me company.” |
AuthorsRiverkeeper John Zaktansky is an award-winning journalist and avid promoter of the outdoors who loves camping, kayaking, fishing and hunting with the family. Archives
September 2024
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