Saturday, August 19, 2023
Friday, August 18, 2023
EPA Invites Public Input on Proposed Cleanup Plan for Lehigh Valley Railroad Superfund Site in Genesee County, New York
EPA Press Office:
EPA Invites Public Input on Proposed Cleanup Plan for Lehigh Valley Railroad Superfund Site in Genesee County, New York
Contact: Mike Basile, 646-369-0055, basile.michael@epa.gov
NEW YORK (August 18, 2023) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public input on its proposed cleanup plan to address contaminated groundwater, soil, bedrock, soil vapor and surface water at the Lehigh Valley Railroad site located in LeRoy, New York. A 30-day public comment period for the proposed plan begins on August 18, 2023. EPA will host a public meeting at Caledonia Mumford High School auditorium, 99 North Street, Caledonia, NY on August 29, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. to explain the new cleanup proposal. EPA’s proposed plan for the Lehigh Valley Railroad site will address the remaining contamination from a historic train accident that spilled trichloroethylene (TCE) onto the ground and into the groundwater.
The site includes the location of a former train derailment that occurred on December 6, 1970, at the Gulf Road crossing in the Town of LeRoy. Two tank cars ruptured and spilled approximately 30,000 gallons of TCE onto the ground. A third car containing a crystalline form of cyanide was also reported to have partially spilled. The cyanide was recovered shortly after the derailment, however the TCE was flushed with water, and it seeped into the ground, resulting in a 4-mile-long plume of TCE contamination. EPA placed the site on the National Priorities List in 1999 and has been cleaning the site in several stages, including early removal responses, as well as remedial actions known as operable units (OUs).
The cleanup outlined in today’s proposed plan will address the groundwater, bedrock, soil, soil vapor, and surface water. For the groundwater contamination, EPA has determined that no existing treatment methods can clean up the groundwater to meet standards in a reasonable time. Therefore, EPA proposes to monitor the groundwater and use institutional controls (ICs) to limit its use and protect people’s health over the long term.
The proposed plan also includes:
- Removing remaining contaminated soil and disposing of it off-site, followed by backfilling with clean fill.
- In-situ treatment of contaminated surface water with streambed cover, ICs, and monitoring.
- Monitoring groundwater, surface water, soil vapor and indoor air to check the levels of contaminants.
- Maintaining and installing vapor mitigation systems for properties that are affected by soil vapor intrusion from the groundwater plume. These systems prevent harmful vapors from entering indoor spaces.
- Connecting new homes built over the groundwater plume to the public water supply system. Existing homes over the plume were connected to the public water system in 2003.
- ICs in the form of governmental controls, proprietary controls (e.g., easements in the spill area), and informational devices (e.g., notices, publications) to limit exposure to contaminated groundwater and soil vapor.
EPA also proposes changes to a 1997 cleanup plan to eliminate source control measures including bedrock vapor extraction, to update the surface water standard for TCE, and to address soil contamination beneath Gulf Road by implementing ICs to restrict access and to require proper soil management if the roadbed is disturbed in the future.
Written comments on the proposed plan may be mailed or emailed to Maria Jon, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway – 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007, Email: jon.maria@epa.gov.
For additional background and to see the proposed cleanup plan, visit the Lehigh Valley Railroad Superfund site profile page.
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23-074
EPA announces federal enforcement priorities to protect communities from pollution
EPA Press Office:
EPA announces federal enforcement priorities to protect communities from pollution
New priorities tackle modern challenges including climate change, PFAS, coal ash, air toxics, drinking water contamination, and chemical accidents, all with a focus on achieving environmental justice
Contact: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)
WASHINGTON (Aug. 17, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives for 2024-2027, including for the first time initiatives to mitigate climate change, address exposure to PFAS contamination, and protect communities from cancer-causing coal ash. To advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protect disadvantaged communities, EPA also will integrate environmental justice considerations into each of its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives.
Every four years, across administrations, EPA selects enforcement and compliance priorities so that the agency and its state partners can prioritize resources to address the most serious and widespread environmental problems facing the United States. In addition to climate change, PFAS contamination, and coal ash initiatives, EPA is modifying its Clean Air Act initiative to focus on hazardous toxic air pollution in overburdened communities in each EPA region and is continuing its drinking water and chemical accident prevention initiatives that began under prior administrations.
“EPA’s new national initiatives address urgent 21st century environmental problems, while upholding the rule of law to level the playing field for law-abiding companies and promoting a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance David M. Uhlmann. “Working closely with our state partners, EPA enforcement efforts will mitigate climate change and limit exposure to the scourge of PFAS contamination, while addressing the reality that, for too long in the United States, the worst effects of pollution have plagued overburdened communities.”
In selecting initiatives for the FY 2024-2027 cycle, EPA used three criteria to evaluate existing initiatives and to consider new initiatives: (1) the need to address serious and widespread environmental issues and significant noncompliance, particularly in overburdened and disadvantaged communities; (2) a focus on areas where federal enforcement authorities, resources, and/or expertise are needed to hold polluters accountable and promote a level playing field; and (3) alignment with the EPA’s broader Strategic Plan, which includes tackling the climate crisis and advancing environmental justice.
The 2024-2027 National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives are:
Mitigating Climate Change - Tackling the climate crisis is an urgent priority. EPA will use its enforcement and compliance tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, helping to limit the worst effects of climate change. The initiative will focus on three separate and significant contributors to climate change: (1) methane emissions from oil and gas facilities; (2) methane emissions from landfills; and (3) the use, importation, and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). EPA has documented widespread noncompliance in all three of these areas, resulting in potentially tens of thousands of tons of unlawful emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. This initiative will help achieve EPA’s goals to combat climate change while also addressing significant noncompliance in specific industry sectors.
Addressing Exposure to PFAS - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals are toxic, persistent “forever chemicals” that have caused widespread contamination in our air, water, and land throughout the country. This initiative will focus on implementing EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and hold responsible those who manufactured PFAS and/or used PFAS in the manufacturing process, federal facilities that released PFAS, and other industrial parties who significantly contributed to the release of PFAS into the environment. Ensuring these entities properly identify and characterize contamination, control ongoing releases, and comply with both existing and future environmental requirements will help address this larger environmental threat.
Protecting Communities from Coal Ash Contamination - This initiative will focus on the threat presented by the hundreds of millions of pounds of coal ash, also known as coal combustion residuals (CCR), found throughout our country in on-site landfills, settling ponds, and other coal plant surface impoundments. Coal ash, a waste product from burning coal for energy, contains contaminants such as mercury, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic, which are associated with cancer and other serious health effects. This initiative will focus on the approximately 300 facilities nationwide that are collectively responsible for approximately 775 coal ash units. Neighborhoods located near these facilities are often communities with environmental justice concerns.
Reducing Air Toxics in Overburdened Communities - This initiative will address the serious threat to communities that comes from unlawful exposure to regulated hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from nearby industry. Many of these pollutants, such as benzene, ethylene oxide, and formaldehyde, are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious neurological, reproductive, developmental, and respiratory health effects when breathed or ingested through the food chain, including harm to children. This initiative will seek to target, investigate, and address noncompliance with clean air standards designed to protect public health, with a focus on sources of HAPs in communities already highly burdened with pollution impacts.
Increasing Compliance with Drinking Water Standards - This initiative seeks to ensure that the approximately 50,000 regulated drinking water systems that serve water to residents year-round, referred to as Community Water Systems (CWSs), comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Each year thousands of CWSs continue to violate one or more drinking water standards, exposing millions of people to potential health risks. During the next four years, EPA will ramp up its field presence, take impactful enforcement to increase compliance, and offer more compliance assistance to prevent and address public health risks.
Chemical Accident Risk Reduction - This initiative seeks to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic chemical releases, and to address the problem of avoidable chemical incidents that continue to occur throughout the country. Thousands of facilities nationwide make, use, and store extremely hazardous substances. Disastrous fires, leaks, and explosions at these facilities can result in fatalities and serious injuries, evacuations, shelter in place orders, toxic exposure, and other harm to workers, first responders, and neighboring communities. EPA has found significant noncompliance with companies who handle extremely hazardous substances and will target companies that choose not to comply with risk management requirements established to protect public health and safety from extremely hazardous chemical releases.
To help inform the selection of the FY 2024-2027 NECIs, EPA solicited public comment via a Federal Register notice to provide ample opportunity for stakeholder input. EPA also considered input on this cycle of NECIs from states, territories, and Tribes, as well as from the public, environmental groups, and regulated entities.
Learn more about EPA’s NECI’s for FY 2024-2027.
EPA Deletes Smithtown Ground Water Contamination Site from the National Priorities List
EPA Press Office:
EPA Deletes Smithtown Ground Water Contamination Site from the National Priorities List
NEW YORK (August 17, 2023) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has deleted the Smithtown Groundwater Contamination Superfund site in Smithtown, New York, from the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. EPA has determined all cleanup work has been completed and that no further federal action is required at the site.
“A few decades ago, people were drinking the contaminated groundwater at this site, but thanks to our Superfund program EPA was able to quickly give them a safe and permanent source of drinking water, allowing the aquifer time to recover.” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “Contamination levels in the groundwater have fallen to a level that meets drinking water standards, and EPA is now removing the designation of this site as a Superfund site.”
“I applaud EPA's successful efforts to address the toxic contamination at the Smithtown Groundwater Contamination Site that has threatened the health of local residents for years. It is imperative that all New Yorkers have access to clean drinking water, and everyone deserves to know that their community is a safe place to live, work, and raise a family,” said New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “Thanks to this 24-year effort, residents of Nissequogue and Head of the Harbor can now take solace in knowing their groundwater is safe, and I will never stop fighting to ensure it remains that way.”
Groundwater at the site became contaminated with tetrachloroethylene (or PCE), a solvent used in dry cleaning and metal cleaning, though in this case EPA was not able to pinpoint specific sources of the contamination. Exposure to PCE can have serious health impacts, including liver damage and increased risk of cancer. EPA selected a cleanup plan in 2004 to clean up groundwater contaminated with PCE. The plan included providing alternate water supplies to homes affected by the contamination and relied on existing state and local regulations to restrict future groundwater use.
In 2005, EPA began installing service lines to connect people’s homes to the public water that is regulated and regularly tested. In addition, EPA extended the water main so all the impacted homes could be connected. EPA monitored groundwater using a network of monitoring wells to gauge the concentration and movement of the PCE in the groundwater over time.
When hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants remain on a site at levels that limit use and restrict exposure, EPA conducts follow-up reviews every five years. These five-year reviews, ensure that the cleanup actions continue to protect people and the environment. Several five-year reviews for the site were performed from 2011 through 2020 to ensure that contamination was not posing a risk to people. The most recent five-year review, conducted in November 2020, determined that EPA’s actions at the site protect people’s health and the environment. Levels of PCE in the groundwater have fallen to below state and federal drinking water standards. As a result, no additional five-year reviews will be required.
The NPL includes some of the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination. EPA deletes sites or parts of sites from the NPL when no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment. Years, and sometimes decades, of complex investigation and cleanup work have gone into getting these sites to where they are today.
Visit the [Smithtown Groundwater Contamination] Superfund site profile page for additional background and site documents.
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