In September, 2007, NYSDEC Region 5 rep. Mike McClean contacted the EPA Region 2 Regional Response Center and requested EPA assistance with an abandoned paint store in the City of Glens Falls, NY. The building had been acquired by the City through a tax foreclosure and the dangerous condition of the building was discovered by while the property was being evaluated for a Brownfields redevelopment Grant.
The building was located in the center of a residential area, adjacent to an elementary school and ball field. The materials inside the building were identified by DEC and Brownfields assessors as paint and solvents.
On September 20, 2007, OSC Eric Daly met with NYSDEC and City officials and performed a preliminary assessment of the building. OSC Daly observed that the roof structure was deteriorated and that approximately 1,000 rusted containers of paint and solvent were haphazardly stacked throughout the facility. EPA conducted air monitoring along the perimeter of the building, inside the premises, and along the school grounds.
The building consisted of the main level, a partial basement, and an attic. The entire structure was unstable. The roof was dramatically bowed and perforated and the main room ceiling was collapsing. Containers of solvents and leaking/rusted containers of paint and unknown substances were located on all 3 levels and haphazardly stacked.
EPA was officially requested to conduct a removal action by the Mayor of Glens Falls, the Glens Falls Fire Department, and the Principal of Sanford Street Elementary School. NYSDEC issued a verbal referral of the site to EPA on September 20, 2007, and, based on the verbal referral, on September 20, 2007, ERRD Director G. Pavlou gave a verbal authorization to proceed with a removal action. A formal written referral was received by EPA on September 21, 2007.
EPA mobilized its ERRS contractors on September 24, 2007. Initial efforts focused on stabilizing the structure and identifying/consolidating the containers. All hazardous substances were packaged into cubic-yard boxes, staged in Conex shipping containers in an adjacent parking lot, and shipped off-Site for disposal. On October 10, 2007 the removal action was completed.
The City demolished the empty structure in the fall of 2007, and hired a consultant to perform a Phase II soil analysis. On June 24, 2008, the City received a report which revealed the presence of elevated levels of mercury in the soil underneath the footprint of the building. Following the release of this report, EPA received a written request from the City for assistance in removing the contaminated soil, and a written referral of the Site to EPA from the NYSDEC for additional removal work was sent on 8/6/2008. Following receipt of that request, EPA conducted a removal assessment of the Site, including the acquisition of numerous soil and paint samples which were tested for hazardous constituents. Based on the analytical results and the close proximity of a public school, a decision was made to initiate a response action. This decision is documented in an Action Memo which was signed on 8/18/2009.
The OSC and the ERRS contractor were on-Site on 9/17 to remove the torn poly sheeting. ERRS made arrangements with a commercial business adjacent to the Site to rent temporary office space for the duration of the removal action.
On 9/18 the OSC, ERRS contractor, representatives from the NYSDEC, NYSDOH, and PAD-Hudson River Field Office met with City and school officials to discuss logistics, health concerns such as noise and fugitive dust control, traffic patterns around the school, start/stop times, and use of part of the adjacent parking lot to stage equipment and roll-offs to be loaded. A consensus opinion was arrived at regarding the various subjects discussed.
The ERRS contractor mobilized a crew to the Site on 9/21. ERRS set up a new fence, cleared brush and weeds, and began to hand-remove the lead paint from the remains of the concrete flooring left at the Site. This activity is being done inside a tent set up over the work area to eliminate any fugitive dust. ERRS also set up rented office space and the Command Post is fully operational.
The City has trimmed overhanging tree limbs along the road the tdump trucks will traverse accessing and legressing the Site.
The Call First organization has sent utility companies to the Site to mark all underground lines, including water, sewer, gas, electric, TV cable and telephone. The City marked the location of a sewer line that runs through the center of the Site and a DPW crew removed a large amount of brush that ERRS cleared from the Site.
On 9/22 a TV news reporter visited the Site to interview EPA personnel.
A public availability meeting with the parents of the children attending the Sanford Street School and other interested parties will be held at 7PM on Tuesday, 9/22. This meeting was advertised in the Post-Star newspaper.
ERRS will mobilize heavy equipment to the Site to break up the clean concrete and expose the underlying contaminated soil. The concrete will be sent to landfill as C & D waste, and the lead paint chips will be sent off-Site for disposal.
After Site preparation is complete ERRS will begin excavating and loading-out the overburden layer of rad fly ash. Once that waste stream is removed the underlying contaminated soil will be excavated and shipped for T & D.
See above.
Meeting with parents and interested parties at the Sanford Ave. School in the evening of 9/22.
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