EPA Starts Soil Cleanup at Former Scrap Yard in New York State

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to begin excavating contaminated soil at the Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal Superfund site in Ellenville, N.Y. The EPA will move the soil to a landfill on the property.

According to the EPA, excavation of the contaminated soil is the first part of a site cleanup plan EPA put together in September 2010.

“EPA is committed to cleaning up the Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal Superfund site,” says Judith Enck, EPA’s regional administrator. “Containing and isolating contaminated soil at this site is important to protect people from potential exposure to harmful contaminants and to protect the underlying groundwater.”

The cleanup is expected to cost about $8 million. The project will be paid by the EPA, with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) contributing 10 percent of the funding. Cleanup work at the site is expected to be completed this fall. No financially viable, potentially responsible parties exist to perform or fund the cleanup of the Ellenville site.

EPA added the Ellenville Scrap Iron Metal site to the Superfund National Priorities List in late 2002 after hazardous chemicals were found in the soil. The 24-acre site was used as a scrap metal operation from the 1950s through the 1990s.

From 1987 to 1998, the NYSDEC inspected the site numerous times, conducted sampling and directed the owner to clean up on-site debris. The village of Ellenville also removed a large number of tires from the site. During 2004 and 2005, EPA demolished all of the buildings at the site, and disposed of waste oil tanks and about 20 drums containing hazardous materials. In addition, soil contaminated with lead was removed and disposed of off-site.

For more information about the site, click here. http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/ellenville/.