On April 27, 2018, Mayor P. Smith of Whitehall, NY contacted EPA with regards to three abandoned properties in his city that he believed posed an environmental threat to the residents of Whitehall.
Follow-up communications with the Mayor and the OSC revealed the threats as follows: an abandoned, dilapidated former residential building in downtown Whitehall that may contain asbestos; a former locomotive repair shop that contains drums and tanks of oil and/or chemicals. and an abandoned oil tank farm located directly on the banks of the Albany-Lake Champlain Canal.
The OSC contacted the Region 5 office of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and a joint meeting with DEC, the City, and the OSC was scheduled for May 23, 2018. After a walk-thru inspection of the three properties was conducted on May 23, 2018, it was learned that the oil tanks are permanently out of service and the former railroad property was sold to a private party years ago. A separate web site will be set up for the former railroad property.
In May, 2018, 20 surface samples of suspected asbestos insulation were acquired by Weston Solutions, the Region II EPA technical contractor. Analysis of the samples revealed 0.0% asbestos. Consequently, the OSC informed the Mayor of Whitehall of the analyses and informed the Mayor that there was nothing else EPA could do in terms of a potential removal action. The Mayor was also advised that if new information was made known to EPA which caused renewed concern, EPA would return to the Site to assess the need for further involvement.
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