All News Releases By Date

EPA Selects Long-Term Cleanup Plan for the Mohonk Road Industrial Plant Federal Superfund Site in the Hamlet of High Falls, New York

Release Date: 04/06/2000
Contact Information:

(#00055) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), has selected the long-term cleanup plan for the Mohonk Road Industrial Plant (MRIP) site. The site is located in the Hamlet of High Falls and was occupied from the early 1960s until 1992 by various businesses that used chemicals or solvents in their operations. The primary goals of the $14.9 million plan are to provide a long-term supply of safe drinking water to residents whose properties have been or may be impacted by groundwater contamination from the site and to clean up the contaminated groundwater while also preventing the contamination from spreading and impacting additional properties. "We have received support from the local community and have worked hard to involve the public in selecting the best cleanup plan for the Mohonk site that is protective of public health and the environment," said EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox. "EPA is now the lead agency responsible for carrying out the plan and we will continue to work with the impacted residents of Marbletown and Rosendale as we develop the specific details of the remedy." The final cleanup plan calls for the following actions: 1. EPA will construct and begin operation of a new public water supply system to provide clean, safe potable water to the residences and businesses in the towns of Marbletown and Rosendale with impacted or threatened private supply wells. The source of this new public water supply will be the Catskill Aqueduct. In order for EPA to construct this public water system, the towns of Marbletown and Rosendale must first establish a community water district to maintain and operate the public water supply system for the long-term. A backup system will also be constructed to supply drinking water during periods of time when the Catskill Aqueduct may be temporarily out of service. In accordance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and the Surface Water Treatment Rule, the raw water from the Catskill Aqueduct and the backup source will be treated with a conventional treatment system, including filtration and disinfection. 2. EPA will construct and operate a groundwater extraction and treatment system to clean up groundwater contamination that has migrated away from the MRIP property. EPA will also continue to operate the treatment system currently being constructed by EPA's Superfund Removal program to address the most contaminated area of the groundwater plume, which is directly under the MRIP property. 3. EPA will excavate approximately 500 cubic yards of contaminated subsurface soils on the MRIP property and dispose of those soils at an EPA approved facility. EPA, NYSDEC and the Ulster County Department of Health have identified the boundaries of the proposed public water service area (PWSA), which includes all properties currently impacted or considered threatened by contamination from the MRIP site. The PWSA comprises approximately 192 lots in the towns of Marbletown and Rosendale, of which approximately 155 are currently developed for municipal, residential or commercial use and contain private wells. Until the new public water supply is available, the individual treatment systems that are currently installed on impacted private wells will continue to be maintained.