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.
The company became defunct 2 years ago, had filed for liquidation bankruptcy, and the owner walked away from the property. The plant was purchased by St. Regis Investments, LLC, a company based in California. The original intent was to reopen the plant, but due to economic considerations the plant will be demolished and sold for residential development.
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, manufaturing areas, a lab, offices, and repair shops. There is a boiler house and an associated 20,000 gallon 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 from 8AM to 6PM, seven days a week, but was discontinued. The facility has limited access via a dirt road, however, the property is unfenced and the buildings are unlocked and unsecured.
As of this date, almost 22,000 gallons of liquid, and 3 tons of solid chemicals have been returned to original suppliers and local end-users.
On August 17, 2005, the a rep of the owner of the Site informed EPA in writing that he did not have the financial resources to continue the removal action, and asked EPA to complete the clean up.
In reponse to this significant event, the OSC has drafted an Action Memo, yet concurrently, ORC is preparing a written inquiry to the current owner regarding the financial resources of St. Regis Investments. If the current owner can demonstrate that there insufficient funds to complete the removal action, a Fund-lead removal will be initiated.
The work remaining at the Site to prevent a release of chemicals to the environment consists of:
1. disposal of approx. 75 drums of waste or unknown chemicals, 2. disposal of approx. 3,000 gallons of chemicals in containers connected to process equipment, 3. collection and disposal or approx. 500 containers of chemicals, 1 gallon or less, including approx. 250 laboratory chemicals, disposal of approx. 50 linear feet of friable asbestos-containing insulation.
At the current time EPA is proceeding as if this is a Fund-lead removal action. If the current owner can indeed demonstrate that it does not have sufficient funds to complete the removal action, then the Fund-lead removal action will proceed and a crew will be mobilized to the Site.
In the meantime, in order to acquire information to substantiate the need for a removal action, the OSC has asked for support from the US Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team (AST) to visit the Site and field test (haz-cat) 10 - 15 drums of unknown chemicals.
The key issues at this time is to verify the financial status of the current owner.
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