Bartram's Garden in Southwest Philly closes trail due to "potential toxic chemical contamination"

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Bartram's Garden in Southwest Philadelphia has closed a trail due to a "potential toxic chemical contamination," city councilmember Jamie Gauthier announced in a statement on Wednesday.

Gauthier, who represents Southwest Philly, said she learned from a constituent that a runoff of total chromium, chromium III (trivalent), and chromium VI (hexavalent) likely leaked into Bartram's Garden and the Schuylkill River from a former industrial property.

"On Monday a constituent alerted my office that toxic chemicals from the former Plains Oil Site potentially made their way into Bartram's Garden and the Schuylkill River," Gauthier said in a statement in part. "The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection informed my office that there is no immediate risk to our drinking water because this site is downstream from the water collection point."

As a result of the possible contamination, Gauthier said she urges all residents in the area to stay away from the closed section of Bartram's Mile Trail.

The city said in a statement on Wednesday night that it was "monitoring a site adjacent to Bartram's Garden where discolored ground soil and groundwater had been observed."

"City officials are working closely with state environmental partners to assess the situation and ensure the public health and safety of the surrounding area," the city said in a statement in part.

Gauthier said she requested the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to conduct more testing on Bartram's Mile Trail to identify potential concentrations of chemicals.

Earlier Wednesday, the Philadelphia Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Unit inspected the area where the potential contamination happened and didn't find any threats to the air quality or toxic run-off, according to the city.

"This community has wrongfully been the region's dumping ground for decades," Gauthier said in a statement. "This potential toxic chemical contamination is just the latest example in a long history of environmental harm inflicted on Southwest. The fact that for months government failed to act in any way to either understand or clean up any chemicals spilled into this beloved community resource is an injustice. I will be working to understand how and where government safeguards and processes broke down, and how we can prevent anything like this from happening again. Southwest deserves answers and accountability, and I intend to get it."