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EPA Takes Public Comments on Proposal to Delete an Oneida County Site from the Superfund List after Cleanup

Release Date: 09/30/2013
Contact Information: Larisa Romanowski, (518) 747-4389, [email protected]

(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to delete the Ludlow Sand & Gravel site in Paris, New York from the Superfund National Priorities List of the most hazardous waste sites because the site no longer poses a threat to human health or the environment after a successful cleanup of soil and ground water. The site was placed on the Superfund List in September 1983 and cleanup work was completed in 2007. Subsequent monitoring and assessment of the site confirms that the cleanup was effective and the site can be deleted from the Superfund list. The public is encouraged to submit comments on the proposal and the EPA will consider all comments before making a final decision to delete the site. The public comment period begins on October 2, 2013 and will extend to November 1. 2013.

The 18-acre site contains a landfill and a gravel pit. For more than 20 years, beginning in the early 1960’s, household and septic tank wastes were disposed of in the landfill. The landfill also received a variety of industrial waste including dyes, waste oil, metallurgical cooling oil and animal parts from a meat processing plant. The gravel pit was periodically used for the disposal of waste oil. The landfill continued to accept waste until it was shut down by court order in 1988. Portions of the property continue to be used for sand and gravel mining operations.

Site investigations conducted by the New York State Department of Conservation in 1982 found trace quantities of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the liquid seeping from the landfill. After the site was added to the Superfund list, additional contamination was found throughout the site. PCBs were detected in soil and wetland sediments. PCBs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, and phenol were found in the underlying ground water. The ground water contamination is contained within the site boundaries. Residential wells and a nearby public drinking water supply well have been monitored for many years and have not been impacted.

In 1988, the EPA and NYSDEC finalized a cleanup plan that called for removing over 40,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and approximately 15,000 cubic yards of sediment from the gravel pit and nearby wetlands. Once removed, the PCB-contaminated soil was placed in the landfill, a drainage system was installed to remove water and a cap was placed over the landfill to prevent rain water from coming into contact with the buried materials. The water collected from the landfill is being treated using a system built on the site.

A decision on the cleanup of the gravel pit, ground water and wetlands was finalized in 2003. The deeper PCB-contaminated soil in the gravel pit were treated using a technology that solidifies the soil, locking the PCBs in place to prevent the contamination from moving into the surrounding soil and ground water. After solidification of the contaminated soil, the gravel pit was filled with clean soil to restore it to its original elevation and a cover was planted with vegetation. Two deep wells were also installed to monitor the ground water. The cleanup work was completed in September 2007.

The cleanup of the site was conducted through a combination of actions performed by responsible parties, the state of New York and the EPA. The EPA has monitored all the cleanup work to ensure that the actions are protective of human health and the environment. The EPA has concluded that the cleanup work has been successful and that the site can now be taken off the Superfund list.

The EPA will prepare a document responding to any significant comments received during the comment period. If the EPA does not receive significant dissenting comments and/or no significant new data are submitted during the public comment period, this deletion will be effective on December 2, 2013.

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1983-0002, by one of the following methods:

Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow on-line instructions for submitting comments.

Email: [email protected]

Fax: To the attention of Isabel Rodrigues at (212) 637-3966

Mail: Isabel Rodrigues, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, Emergency & Remedial Response Division, 290 Broadway, 20^th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10007.

Follow the EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.

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