update: Vapor Intrusion at Hillcrest, NY

[Bob Hersh <bhersh@cpeo.org>]

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The following article appeared in the on-line version of the Binghamton
Press & Sun Bulletin on June 8, 2004  
URL:
http://www.pressconnects.com/today/news/stories/ne060704s95418.shtml

BY TOM WILBER
Press & Sun-Bulletin 

So far, understanding Broome County's unique pollution problem has cost
the state more than $400,000 - and that is just the beginning. 

Investigations in Hillcrest and Endicott, where underground plumes of
industrial solvents have been found entering homes through a process
called vapor intrusion, require extensive and sophisticated sampling of
air inside and outside homes and air trapped in the ground. 

In Endicott, IBM Corp. is paying for much of the work in an area
encompassing about 300 acres south of its former North Street plant,
where approximately 480 homes or businesses are affected. 

But the state Department of Environmental Conservation has had to tap
the Superfund -- a state fund to clean pollution -- to proceed with work
west of the IBM plume and in Hillcrest. Both are areas where those
responsible for the pollution have not yet been identified. 

The DEC is also conducting more extensive tests beneath Creative
Printing on East Main Street, Endicott, where solvents have been found
underground. 

The state will seek compensation from responsible parties as it
documents the extent and source of the pollution, said Mary Jane
Peachey, a regional engineer with the state DEC. 

Tests to determine if chemicals are passing from the ground into
basements requires a series of tests that collectively cost about $2,500
per home, Peachey said. In Hillcrest, tests have been taken in 28 homes,
and dozens more are slated through the year. 

In addition, scientists are inserting dozens of sophisticated probes and
wells into the soil to track the subterranean flow of chemicals.
Sometimes homes require special systems, similar to radon systems, to
vent gases from beneath their basements. Each of these costs about
$2,500, according to Thomas Suozzo, an engineer with the DEC. In
Hillcrest, three have been installed so far. 

The capital costs in Hillcrest and Endicott so far total about $220,000.
Staffing the project with engineers and managers costs at least as much
as the equipment and sampling, Peachey said. For example, a recent
series of meetings in Hillcrest included at least six scientists from
the state Department of Health and the DEC; some traveled from Albany.
Suozzo, who works out of Kirkwood, said the Hillcrest project is taking
about 90 percent of his time. 

The projects in Hillcrest and Endicott are in the beginning phase. It
may take a year or more before they are completed. 

The state is also considering work at other sites in Union and Vestal,
including: 

* A three-acre site called Former Bright Outdoors, at 631 Field St.,
Johnson City, which was recently added to the state's hazardous-waste
registry. 

* A neighborhood surrounding a former Canada Dry bottling plant on
Badger Avenue in Endicott. 

* A neighborhood near the west end of Old Vestal Road, which is near a
federal Superfund site. 

There is a valuable return on the investment, in addition to a cleaner
environment, Peachey said. These are the first Superfund sites dealing
with vapor intrusion in the state, she said, and scientists are learning
a lot in short order about a problem first discovered in Endicott last
year. 

"It's important," Peachey said. "This is a big site in its uniqueness.
Given the history and geology, its a very appropriate place to begin." 


Bob Hersh
Brownfields Program Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO)
1101 Connecticut Ave., NW  Suite 1000
Washington, DC  20036

Tel:     202.452.8043
Fax:    202.452.8095
email:  bhersh@cpeo.org
url:      www.cpeo.org
 

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