(New York, N.Y.) The E.P.A. has suggested a project to clean up contaminated soil and sediment at the Lower Ley Creek area of the Onondaga Lake Superfund Location located in the Town of Salina, Onondaga County, New York. Discharges from nearby industries and a landfill have contaminated the soil and sediment with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances. PCBs are potentially cancer-causing chemicals that can build up in the tissue of fish and other wildlife and pose a threat to people who eat them. The E.P.A. suggestion calls for a combination of excavation, capping and disposal of contaminated soil and sediment.
"The suggested project is an important step in the ongoing effort to control sources of contamination to Onondaga Lake and protect people's health," said Judith A. Enck, E.P.A. Regional Administrator. "PCBs are dangerous and contaminate fish, so it is important that the Lower Ley Creek be cleaned up."
The E.P.A. will hold a public meeting on July 29, 2014 to explain the suggested project and is encouraging public comments. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Town of Salina Town Hall, 201 School Road, Liverpool, New York. Comments will be accepted until August 14, 2014.
The Onondaga Lake Superfund Site, which includes the lake itself, 6 tributaries and various upland sources of contamination, was placed on the EPA's Superfund list in 1994. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the E.P.A. have organized the cleanup work for the Onondaga Lake Superfund Location into eleven areas. These areas are in various stages of cleanup.
The Lower Ley Creek area is located in an industrialized area in the Town of Salina, just north of Syracuse, New York. Since the late 19th century, several industries have been operating near Ley Creek and its branches. As part of these operations, industrial wastes containing PCB oils and other hazardous substances were discharged into the Creek. In the 1970s, Ley Creek was dredged and redirected through the Town of Salina Landfill by Onondaga Co. in an effort to control flooding. Dredged material was spread along the shoreline of the Creek and also disposed of at the Town of Salina Landfill.
The Lower Ley Creek area consists of the lower 2 miles of Ley Creek and its shoreline beginning at the Route eleven Bridge and ending downstream at Onondaga Lake. The area also includes Old Ley Creek Channel, an original section of the Creek before Ley Creek was widened and reconfigured during the flood control project. In addition, the area includes a 3.7-acre wetland on the southern bank of the Creek and several sections of riverbank where contaminated dredged sediment was placed during the flood control project.
Under the EPA's suggested plan, contaminated Creek sediment and soil from the northern and southern banks of the Creek will be excavated. Following the excavation, upland soil areas will then be restored with clean soil. The E.P.A. anticipates that the excavated soil and sediment with PCB concentrations less than 50 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) will be able to be properly disposed of locally. Higher concentration soil and sediment will be disposed of out of the area at a licensed disposal facility.
One option being considered for the local disposal of the excavated soil and sediment is the Town of Salina Landfill, within a section of the landfill that has a system in place to contain contaminated liquids from the landfill, called leachate. Another local disposal option that is being considered is the Cooper Crouse-Hinds North Landfill, also located in the Town of Salina. This landfill will be capped and closed under the State Superfund plan in the near future, but a new cell with a liner could be constructed at the landfill, which would also include a leachate collection system. The specific local disposal location would be determined during the design phase of the cleanup, which will begin after the E.P.A. chooses the final cleanup project for the site. Should local disposal be determined not to be viable, all of the material would be sent for proper disposal out of the area.
The Superfund plan operates on the principle that polluters should pay for cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers. At sites which are placed on the Superfund list of the most contaminated waste sites, the E.P.A. searches for parties responsible for the contamination and looks for to hold them accountable for the costs of investigations and cleanups.
In May 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice and the E.P.A. reached a legal arrangement with Motors Liquidation Company, the successor to the General Motors Corporation after its bankruptcy. For a period of 40 years, General Motors discharged PCBs and other hazardous substances from its Inland Fisher Guide facility into Ley Creek. Under the agreement, the E.P.A. received approximately $22 million for the environmental cleanup of the Lower Ley Creek area.
The suggested cleanup of the Lower Ley Creek area under the EPA's project is expected to cost between $18 and $35.5 million, depending upon the actual volume of estimated contaminated material, the degree to which it is contaminated, and where the excavated soil and sediment is properly disposed.
Written comments may be mailed, faxed or emailed to:
Pamela Tames, P.E., Remedial Plan Manager
E.P.A. - Region two
290 Broadway, 20th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10007-1866
fax: (212) 637-3966
email: [email protected]
More information about the Onondaga Lake Superfund Location can be found at http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfund/npl/onondagalake/index.html.
Follow E.P.A. Region two on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.
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