The Site is a defunct tissue paper manufacturer (aka paper converting) located in a rural area of Greenwich, NY, 20 miles east of Saratoga Springs, NY. It operated as Steven's & Thompson Paper Company since 1885, and was most recently American Tissue Mills of Greenwich.
The company became defunct 2 years ago and had filed for liquidation bankruptcy; the owner walked away from the property. The mill was recently purchased by St. Regis Investments, of California.
The Site occupies 27 acres in a rural/residential area, and is perched on the edge of a cliff over the Battenkill River. It has one large brick and wood, multi-level manufacturing consisting of a warehouse, two hydroelectric power plants, manufacturing areas, a lab, offices, and repair shops. There is a boiler house and an AST for waste oil. There are a number of small out-buildings used for vehicle and misc. equipment storage.
Security guard service was in-place, but was discontinued last winter. The Site has limited access via a dirt road, however, the property is unfenced and the buildings are unlocked and unsecured.
On 10/21/04, after obtaining verbal consent for access from the owner of the Site, the OSC conducted a walk-thru inspection, accompanied by the former caretaker of the Site.
The OSC observed two distinct waste streams: one of approx. 7,000 gallons of various chemicals, including oxidizers, caustics, and acids, in unopened, sound containers. In addition, there are approx. 2,500 50-lb bags of powdered lime (calcium oxide), which generates heat when wet.
The second waste stream consists of the following: 40-50 55-gallon unlabelled drums or with unknown contents, approx. 200 l.f. of damaged, friable, asbestos pipe insulation, electrical switching devices that probably contain PCB fluids, a lab with approx. 200 lab-pack containers of chemicals, including asbestos, acids, caustics, and sodium azide (explosive). In addition, there is approx. 2,000 sq.ft. of Transite (asbestos cement) covering a process line, and numerous 1 gallon containers of paint, thinner, oils and lubricants. There is also an AST which may contain as much as 20,000 gallons of waste oil that was used as a fuel.
During on-site work identifying drums of unknown chems, OSC noted a box marked with a rad label; the actual rad source, Kr-85, was located in a paper making machine inside the plant; the rad source was used to monitor paper film thickness for QC purposes. The sealed scanner on the machine was emitting 1000 micro roentgens per hour. OSCs initiated an emergency response, and with the assistance of CHEMTREK and cooperation of RP, OSCs were put in touch with Honeywell, the supplier of the Kr-85. The source was removed without incident and shipped to Honeywell in Georgia. See attached Special POLREP for details of this ER.
In early December, 2004, the OSC oversaw the RP relocate 47 drums that were either outside the mill or left at various locations throughout the mill. The drums were staged on visqueen on a concrete floor in a former warehouse area. In addition to the 47 drums, there are 25 drums in an upstairs storeage room, and 5 drums in outlying areas of the mill which are currently inaccessible with the power equipment on-hand.
The Site is totally accessible to the general public. There is no electrical service in the building, and there are no smoke detectors or fire alarms. Should a fire occur at night, because of the remote location of the Site, it is unlikely that an alarm would be sounded until the building was fully involved.
Since November 2004, the OSC has facilitated the return of almost 22,000 gals of liquids and 3,000 lbs. of solid hazardous substances, contaminants, and pollutants to original suppliers.
