Cleanup Work to Begin at Mercury Refining
Superfund Site
On
Colonie/Guilderland Border
EPA to Hold September 16 Public Meeting on the $9 Million Cleanup
Plan
(New York, NY – September 12, 2013) The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency announced today that the cleanup of contaminated
soil and sediment will begin next week at the Mercury Refining Superfund site, a
mercury reclamation facility in the towns of Colonie and Guilderland, New
York.
Past waste disposal activities contaminated
soil and storm water that drained off the site and into an unnamed tributary to
the Patroon Creek with mercury. Mercury can build up in the tissue
of fish and other wildlife and pose a threat to people who eat them. Exposure to
mercury can damage people’s nervous systems and harm the brain,
heart, kidneys, lungs and immune systems. EPA will begin excavating contaminated
soil and removing it from the site later this month.
“Mercury is a strong neurotoxin that can
damage the nervous system and cause other health and environmental problems,”
said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “The EPA is committed to
cleaning up this toxic waste site and ensuring that the past polluters pay to
clean up this legacy of toxic contamination.”
The
EPA will hold a public information session from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday,
September 16, 2013 at the William K. Sanford Town Library, Stedman Room, 629
Albany Shaker Road, Loudonville, NY. Project staff will be available at that
time to discuss planned cleanup activities and answer
questions.
From about 1956 to 1998, Mercury Refining,
Inc. used an industrial oven to recover mercury
from mercury-containing materials, including batteries, thermometers, pressure
regulators and dental amalgams. As a result of these activities,
mercury-contaminated soil on site and mercury-contaminated stormwater drained
off the site into an unnamed tributary to the Patroon Creek. Mercury reclamation
activities ended at the site in 1998. The recovery of some precious metals that
do not contain mercury continues at the site today.
The
Mercury Refining site was placed on the federal Superfund list in 1983. The New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation oversaw various cleanup
actions at the site until EPA assumed the lead for the cleanup in
1999.
During the cleanup, approximately 4,000 cubic
yards of contaminated soil and sediment will be excavated and properly disposed
of off-site. During the first phase of the cleanup, contaminated soil at the
surface, which is more easily accessible to people, will be excavated and taken
to a disposal facility. All excavated areas will be filled with clean soil and
re-planted with vegetation. The work is estimated to take about three months to
complete. Efforts will be made to minimize site-related traffic during the work
and health and safety procedures, including air monitoring around the work zone
and site perimeter, will be in place to protect the surrounding community.
The
work this fall will also include the removal of contaminated sediment from a
tributary to Patroon Creek. After water is removed from the excavated creek
sediment, the sediment will be disposed of at a landfill.
The
second phase of the cleanup is expected to begin in spring 2014. Deeper
contaminated soil and ground water will be treated using a technology that locks
the mercury in a mixture of Portland cement and another agent, preventing it
from moving into the surrounding soil and ground water. The EPA expects all
cleanup work will be completed by fall 2014.
The current owner, 26 Railroad Ave, Inc., will be responsible for land use
restrictions at the site to ensure that the treated soil and ground water are
not disturbed and that no drinking water wells are installed.
The
Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the
cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers. After sites are placed on
the Superfund list of the country’s most contaminated hazardous waste sites, the
EPA searches for parties responsible for the contamination and holds them
accountable for the costs of investigations and cleanups.
The cleanup of the Mercury Refining Superfund
site is being conducted and paid for by the parties responsible for the
contamination, with oversight by the EPA. These companies are Gillette Company,
KeySpan Gas East Corp., Energizer Battery Manufacturing, Inc., Union Carbide
Corporation and Spectrum Brands, Inc. In addition, 19 federal agencies and 42
additional entities also responsible for the contamination were required to make
payments into an escrow account to fund the cleanup work at the site. EPA has
also entered into settlements with 315 additional entities that sent
mercury-containing material to the site. These settlements provided for the
payment of funds to reimburse EPA for costs it incurred at the site. The value of the cleanup
work to be performed is estimated at $9.3 million.
For
more information about the site, please visit:
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2
and visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.
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