DEC announces remediation plan for Pharsalia cleanup site
PHARSALIA – New disposal remedies have been finalized in what for the past 10 years has been known as a “toxic waste dump” near Camp Pharsalia.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) in cooperation with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) have recently amended an action plan for a site classified as No. 709013 in the Town of Pharsalia.
The record of decision (ROD) amendment compares the newly selected remedy for the “excavation and off-site disposal” to the original ROD dated March 2003 that chose a “containment – low permeability cover system” as the remedy based on evaluating criteria gathered from the area and presented in a remedial feasibility study.
The elements of the remedial action plan will include excavation and off-site disposal of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and dioxin contaminated soil. The estimated cost for such remedies total $505,000 and the annual operation and maintenance cost totals $7,900.
The site, located within the Camp Pharsalia Incarceration Facility, is owned by the DEC, but operated by the DOH. The inactive hazardous waste is known to occupy approximately 0.25 acres in the southwest portion of the property. The site consists of a one-story, wood-framed former wood treatment building and surrounding grass area. The area is known to be used for agricultural and residential use although the nearest residence is roughly a quarter of a mile northeast of the contaminated site.
From 1960 to 1977, the Camp Pharsalia site was operated as a sawmill and wood treatment operation. The plant was constructed as a “dip tank process,” meaning the wood was hoisted into the treatment building to the east and placed into a dip tank to be treated, which consisted of a one part PCP solution to 11 parts fuel oil.
Drums of PCP were reportedly stored to the west side of the treatment building. The fuel oil used in the treatment process was stored inside the building in tanks.
In 1997 the DEC division of operations requested the division of environmental remediation perform an environmental investigation of the area. The study completed in 1999 showed PCP in the soil directly below the plant, in the surrounding area, and when tested for dioxin the area showed the levels were found above cleanup criteria. Based on the findings, the site was classified with the state registry of inactive hazardous waste disposal sites. The area was identified as a class three, meaning it “does not present a significant threat to the public health or the environment-action may be deferred.” The DEC called for containment in March 2003.
Camp Pharsalia is one of three sites currently under investigation by the DEC due to former wood treatment operations. Each of the three sites are now active incarceration facilities operated by the New York state Department of Correctional Services and under the jurisdiction of the DEC.
Based on the site investigation and new feasibility study reports, the state proposed to amend the clean-up plan and presented the new proposed remedy in a public meeting in the Town of Pharsalia on March 28. According to Town of Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown the levels of the site requirements may have been lowered, therefore the site needed to be reviewed once again. He explains the site, although small, has taken many years and a lot of money from the state to come up with the plan of action but he feels having the site removed is a good idea. Brown states the town will not be required to pay for the removal and the expenses are covered by the state.
There is no expected start date for the removal process to begin.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) in cooperation with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) have recently amended an action plan for a site classified as No. 709013 in the Town of Pharsalia.
The record of decision (ROD) amendment compares the newly selected remedy for the “excavation and off-site disposal” to the original ROD dated March 2003 that chose a “containment – low permeability cover system” as the remedy based on evaluating criteria gathered from the area and presented in a remedial feasibility study.
The elements of the remedial action plan will include excavation and off-site disposal of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and dioxin contaminated soil. The estimated cost for such remedies total $505,000 and the annual operation and maintenance cost totals $7,900.
The site, located within the Camp Pharsalia Incarceration Facility, is owned by the DEC, but operated by the DOH. The inactive hazardous waste is known to occupy approximately 0.25 acres in the southwest portion of the property. The site consists of a one-story, wood-framed former wood treatment building and surrounding grass area. The area is known to be used for agricultural and residential use although the nearest residence is roughly a quarter of a mile northeast of the contaminated site.
From 1960 to 1977, the Camp Pharsalia site was operated as a sawmill and wood treatment operation. The plant was constructed as a “dip tank process,” meaning the wood was hoisted into the treatment building to the east and placed into a dip tank to be treated, which consisted of a one part PCP solution to 11 parts fuel oil.
Drums of PCP were reportedly stored to the west side of the treatment building. The fuel oil used in the treatment process was stored inside the building in tanks.
In 1997 the DEC division of operations requested the division of environmental remediation perform an environmental investigation of the area. The study completed in 1999 showed PCP in the soil directly below the plant, in the surrounding area, and when tested for dioxin the area showed the levels were found above cleanup criteria. Based on the findings, the site was classified with the state registry of inactive hazardous waste disposal sites. The area was identified as a class three, meaning it “does not present a significant threat to the public health or the environment-action may be deferred.” The DEC called for containment in March 2003.
Camp Pharsalia is one of three sites currently under investigation by the DEC due to former wood treatment operations. Each of the three sites are now active incarceration facilities operated by the New York state Department of Correctional Services and under the jurisdiction of the DEC.
Based on the site investigation and new feasibility study reports, the state proposed to amend the clean-up plan and presented the new proposed remedy in a public meeting in the Town of Pharsalia on March 28. According to Town of Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown the levels of the site requirements may have been lowered, therefore the site needed to be reviewed once again. He explains the site, although small, has taken many years and a lot of money from the state to come up with the plan of action but he feels having the site removed is a good idea. Brown states the town will not be required to pay for the removal and the expenses are covered by the state.
There is no expected start date for the removal process to begin.
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