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EPA Reaches Agreement with Westinghouse To Clean Up Sources of Contamination at Superfund Site in Horseheads, New York

Release Date: 03/09/1998
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(98017) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached an agreement with the Westinghouse Electric Corporation to clean up the Kentucky Avenue Wellfield Superfund site in Horseheads, New York. The cleanup plans for the site were selected in a September 1996 Record of Decision, which were addressed in a settlement entered by the federal district court in Buffalo, New York.

Westinghouse will spend approximately $1.1 million to clean up the contaminated soils, pay $1.25 million for EPA's past costs at the site, and pay for any future work EPA may perform in overseeing the cleanup.

EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox pointed out that,"EPA's first actions at this site were to protect people with private wells against an imminent threat posed by drinking chemically- contaminated water and to restore the quality of the water at the Kentucky Avenue well."

"This settlement means that the soil contamination will be removed and the taxpayers will be spared the bulk of the cleanup costs," Ms. Fox said. In this third phase of the overall cleanup of the site, soils in two areas at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's facility, designated "Disposal Area F" and the "Former Runoff Basin Area," which are contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and arsenic, will be cleaned up using a combination of soil excavation and soil vapor extraction. At Disposal Area F, the area of contamination is about 0.3 acres. At the Former Runoff Basin Area, the contaminated soils cover approximately 0.7 acres. Disposal of the excavated soils will be at appropriate off-site facilities. The removal of the PAHs and arsenic contamination will protect site workers and employees at the Westinghouse facility and the cleanup of the VOCs will help restore the quality of the Newtown Creek Aquifer.

In the first series of Superfund actions, EPA connected 95 families and three businesses in the affected area to an uncontaminated public water supply. EPA also constructed an air stripper treatment facility to restore an adjacent public water supply at the Sullivan Street Wellfield, which was found to be contaminated with VOCs. The air stripper has been operational since mid-1994.

In a second phase, under an EPA Order, Westinghouse constructed a water treatment facility to restore the Kentucky Avenue Wellfield as a drinking water supply and a pump-and-treat system for the extraction of VOC-contaminated groundwater. The system, which was completed and operational by the end of 1997, helps to prevent the further spread of contamination within the aquifer.

For more information contact:
Rich Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]