The RN Hitchcock Electroplating Facility Site ("Site") is located at 58 Green Street in the Village of Port Byron, Town of Mentz, Cayuga County, New York. The Site is situated in the primarily residential area of Port Byron, which is surrounded by the Town of Mentz.
The Site was a former electroplating and metal-finishing facility which was operated by various owners from 1946 until 2003. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“NYSDEC”) began a series of site investigations related to the facility’s operations in 2003 and determined that the facility had been abandoned by its operators. During their investigations, NYSDEC identified unknown chemicals remaining in drums, open vats, tanks and small containers and an underground settling tank located on the east side of the site. On November 2, 2005, NYSDEC requested assistance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to remediate the site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).
EPA initiated assessment activities in December 2005. EPA assessment activities as of May 2006 included a formal Removal Site Evaluation (RSE) consisting of a gross inventory of hazardous substances and pollutants that were stored at the Site, a visual evaluation of Site conditions and sampling of the underground settling tank and some of the vats and containers. The results of the Site assessment/RSE confirmed that there were approximately seventeen open-top vats containing corrosive plating solutions and various chemical containers including 55-gallon drums, 5-gallon pails and an assortment of 40 and 50 pound bags of dry chemical. Many of the drums and other containers held acids, basic solutions, cyanide solutions, chromate solutions, flammable liquids, oxidizers and other hazardous materials. Many of the chemicals were improperly stored and in containers of poor integrity.
Sampling of various containers confirmed the presence of flammable liquids, acids, cyanides, and heavy metals. Heavy metals detected include cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc.
EPA initiated clean-up activities in October 2006 and is in the process of removing the hazardous materials from the Site. An environmental investigation is on-going to determine the nature and extent of any potential site contamination that may have resulted from previous site activities. As of 2/2/2007, under a previous Emergency Removal Action, a total of 166 drums of waste and 110 cubic yards of contaminated debris were shipped from the former plating shop. Site demobilization was completed at this time.
In July of 2007, EPA conducted a review of analytical data from previous site sampling efforts. Based on the review, it was determined that contamination had penetrated the concrete block in portions of the foundation walls of the plating shop. Visual observations also indicated that contamination may have penetrated the concrete floor, potentially passing to the soils beneath the building. Therefore, additional surface cleaning may not be an effective method of building decontamination. Other methods of remediation would potentially entail partial or complete building demolition which was beyond the scope of the emergency removal action. Therefore, as of July 30, 2007, the scope of the removal action was determined to be complete. Additional assessment was recommended to determine the eligibility and extent of any future Removal Action for this site.
EPA, ERT and Lockheed Martin SERAS personnel were on-site at the R.N. Hitchcock Electroplating Site during the week of 9/20-9/24/2010 performing a site assessment to determine the extent of contamination. USEPA performed an Emergency Removal Action under a previous action and removed the material associated with the electroplating operations that vacated the facility. Information for the Emergency Removal Action and Site Assessment can be found on www.epaosc.org/HitchcockPlating.
Portions of the building that housed the plating operations were built in the 1800’s and have had multiple uses including a mill, a blacksmith’s shop, a creamery, a cigar manufacturer, a doughnut bakery, a fueling station/service station, and feed location for Erie Canal barge pulling animals. The building is currently being leased for storage by a local antique dealer, who has items in all areas of the building, including the former plating line area. A historical survey of the property will be performed under the direction of USEPA archeologist John Vetter, with assistance from USEPA ERT, SERAS and a sub-contracted firm, yet to be determined.
On July 27, 2010, EPA OSCs Hoppe, D’Onofrio and Lucarino were on site and recommended to the current tenant that his antiques be removed from the former plating areas due to the potential for contamination and need for EPA to conduct operations in these sections. On September 20, 2010 EPA personnel were met by representatives of the tenant and it was learned that the tenant suffered a major heart attack on Thursday, September 16, 2010 and was not available for any site operations. Upon entering the building, EPA noted the presence of more items in the former plating areas than observed during the July 2010 visit. The representatives moved a portion of these items outside to allow EPA access and these items were covered with plastic by SERAS contractors. Not all areas that EPA access was needed were cleared and a location that was later identified by the building owner as a former laboratory was completely occupied by the tenant’s property. Any future activities will require extensive coordination with both the owner and tenant of the building due to the large quantities of items stored in the building and the potential for some off these items to be contaminated and not fit for sale to the public in their current condition.
The following is a summary of daily activities:
9/20/2010:
EPA, ERT, SERAS performed a site walk on 9/20/2010 and identified priority areas for the multimedia sampling to be performed. Chip, wipe, sweep, surface and subsurface soil, and groundwater locations were identified. Areas with visible signs of contamination were selected within the building and areas on the river side of the exterior were the primary sample locations.
9/21/2010:
EPA OSCs, ERT WAMs and SERAS Contractors on site. Geoprobe operations commenced with subsurface samples being collected and groundwater wells being installed. Cores at 8.5 feet showed thin layer of blue green material above a clay layer. Three of the cores had a petroleum odor at or below the clay layer.
SERAS crew, under direction of OSC Lucarino, collected sediment samples from the Owasco Lake Outlet at five locations. Additional personnel collected concrete dust samples from exterior sections of building.
9/22/2010:
Additional EPA personnel on site: Archeologist/Historian. EPA performed a site walk through with the archeologist, documenting the historical aspects of the structure including the mill wheels and pulley systems. EPA personnel met with Port Byron, NY township historian to discuss site history and potential preservation activities. EPA will maintain contact with the local and county historians during future investigation work.
Site activities included subsurface soil sampling, groundwater sampling, concrete core sampling, sub-slab soil sampling, sweep sampling and wood core sampling.
9/23/2010:
Groundwater well samples were collected and shipped via courier for analysis. Well locations in the NE corner of the property showed signs of petroleum hydrocarbon contamination, as indicated by a slight sheen and aromatic odor. Additional water samples were collected from the large pit sump (interior building) and settling tank (exterior).
Wipe sampling was performed at five locations within the building, including the second floor. Recovery for hexavalent chromium is limited for the method chosen for analysis. Should future wipe sampling be required a method developed specifically for former plating facilities was found to be available.
Concrete core and dust samples, sweep samples and sub-slab soil samples were collected inside the building.
Sampling was completed on 9/23/2010, except for suspected asbestos containing material (ACM) samples.
Samples will be analyzed using EPA’s Contract Laboratory Program (CLP) for TAL Metals plus Mercury and Cyanide, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), with the exception of hexavalent chromium samples and asbestos samples, which are not part of the program.
While sampling, SERAS personnel identified lab pack chemicals in a section of the building. OSCs Hoppe and Lucarino donned PPE and collected small samples from a table top near a leaking bottle; a dry, powder-like material from the leaking bottle and red crystal-like material leaking from a cardboard box. A second, unopened bottle with small crystals was not sampled. A general Haz-Cat was performed on three samples collected. Two of the three samples had pH=12.
Labels on the two bottles were: N-47 and N-15, from the KOCOUR Company out of Chicago. Later investigations lead to the tentative identification of the material as sodium thiosulfate and silver nitrate. The red crystal material remains unidentified, but is believed to be a chromate dye, used in the plating process. Glass ampules were also recovered, but were identified as Nickel solutions with varied concentrations, used for colorimetry.
All of the lab pack material was labeled, isolated in plastic 5-gallon buckets and stored near soil core waste in the boiler room within the facility for future disposal.
9/24/2010:
Asbestos samples were collected by sub-contract personnel with asbestos certification in New York State. The building was photo-documented and sketched by SERAS personnel for later map production.
Once analytical data is reviewed, an appropriate remedy will be selected.
Pending Items/Activities:
• SVOC sampling in 3 wells with potential petroleum (weathered/break-down) contaminants
• Historical survey and documentation
• Investigation of former laboratory area
• Town Hall meeting
• Structural Engineer inspection (upon selection of site remedy)
• Pending Results:
o Determination of Future Removal Action
o Determination of appropriate action for potentially contaminated antiques
o Removal of investigation derived wastes (IDW) remaining from Emergency Removal Action and Site Assessment
o Settling tank contents to be disposed of and tank removed
The representatives from the antique dealer were contacted by OSC Hoppe. The former plating line areas were identified potentially hazardous. It was recommended that items removed from this section should remain out of this section and those that remain should remain in this section, pending sampling results. There was visual evidence of potential contamination on a number of items that were stored within the areas targeted for sampling. Keeping contaminated items out of the public/retail community is a concern. Unlimited access to the former plating area (to this point) has created the potential for further contamination of the building and it’s contents, and presented potential exposure issue for the antique dealer, his workers and any potential customers.
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