Topic: Issues related to the RCRA process

FMC released an update for their 2021 activites.

The updte includes a decription of the areas to be remdiated in 2021 along with maps highlighting those areas.

The major activities will be the removal of buildings and remediatuon at the former Norco property. and work to clean up some of the areas along culvert 105 north of the canal.

It should be noted that even though an entire property may be highlighted, it is not clear that more than part of that property will see activity.

To view the update documant click here.

The New York State DEC has released their Final Statemnt of Basis for Operable Unit 3. The area consists of farm fields, woods and canal banks. The preliminarty statement was released in October, 2020 ans is described in another story below.

To download the fact sheet click here.

To download the final statement click here.

FMC has released their work plan for 2021 investigation and remediation activity. The plan has been approved by the NYS DEC. Most of the operable units are covered in the work plan.

There are a couple of remaining properties in the Air Deposition Area (one on South Vernon St. and the other on Route 31E in Orleans County) in the plan for remediation. The agricultural areas east of Middleport are included and would be done in multiple phases. .

The buildings at the Norco site will be demolished.

The culvert north of Sleeper St. including the area around the apartments on Maedl Lane are in the plan.

Note that at this time approvals by owners have not been given for all of this activity.

To view the work plan, click here.

The DEC has released a Preliminary Statement of Basis describing their remedy for the contamination in area termed Operational Unit 3. This area consists of farm fields, woods and canal banks mostly east of the Village of Middleport.

These lands are divided into several areas:

1. R2a: the northern canal bank including the tow path from opposite the end of William St. east.


2. R2b and R2c: parts of farm fields north of the canal.


3. R2d: part of a farm field east of the Niagara/Orleans County line and south of Route 31E


4. R2e: a small abandoned wooded area east of the county line just north of the Falls Road Railroad.


5. R2f: wooded area east of the county line north of Route 31 to the railroad


6. By order, the south canal bank has also been added but not to include the farm field south of the canal.

Refer to the last pages of the Preliminary Statement of Basis for a pictorial layout of these areas.

A summary of the contamination levels is:

1. R2a: 13 sample points, highest is 49.3 PPM at 6-9 feet deep, 10 sample points have levels above 20 PPM.


2. R2b: 7 sample points, highest is 24.7 PPM, at 6-9 feet, 2 other sample point have levels above 20 PPM.


3. R2c: 6 sample points, highest 26.1 PPM at 6-9 feet, one other sample point had a level above 20 PPM.


4. R2d: 10 sample points, highest is 20.3 PPM at 3-6 feet, no other samples above 20 PPM.


5. R2e: 2 total points, both above 30 PPM at 0-3 feet and above 25 PPM at 3-6 feet


6. R2f: 16 total points, highest is 36.1 PPM at 0-3 feet, 7 other points have samples above 20 PPM.


7. There is no sample data at this time for the southern canal bank.

FMC had proposed two remedies:

1. No further remediation


2. Remediate to an expected land use of agricultural/commercial/railroad/industrial: 40 PPM average, 80 PPM highest.

Since the current known levels in these areas are currently under 40 PPM avg, 80 PPM high, no further action by FMC would have been required.

The DEC objected to both solutions and is requiring FMC clean up to a standard of 20 PPM avg and 40 PPM highest which would establish a land use of residential and no restrictions. The cost of this remedy is estimated to be $14.5 million.

This is land that is not accessible by roads as the areas to be remediated are set back from the nearest highways (31 and 31E) or are not near a road at all. It is hard be believe they will ever be anything but farm or unused land.

The DEC is accepting comments on the PSOB until November 16, 2020, which should be sent to:

Nathan Freeman - NYS DEC Project Engineer
Division of Environmental Remediation
NYSDEC
625 Broadway, 12th Floor
Albany, NY 12233-7255
(518)402-9767
E-mail: Nathan.Freeman@dec.ny.gov

To download the Preliminary Statement of Basis click here.
To download the DEC fact sheet click here.

The DEC published its plans for remediation at the Royalton-Hartland School for Phase 6 in 2020. This will be the final phase for work at the school. Most areas effected are parking lots and driveways which will be milled and repaved. There will be some areas along State St. and the old tennis courts where soil will be removed and replaced.

To view the DEC release click here. The areas where work will be done are highlighted.

The NYS DEC has announced their plans for continuing the arsenic cleanup in Middleport. 2020 will be the sixth and probably final planned season of remediation to be performed in the Air Deposition Area. Work is scheduled to begin this month (April).

The areas to be worked on will be:

1. Residential properties along both sides of State Street between William and Robertson Streets.


2. Properties on William and Washington Streets.


3. Properties on north side of State St. including and west of The HUB that have the under ground Culvert 105 passing through.


4. The residential property on Route 31E east of the village at the Niagara/Orleans County line.


5. The residential property at 85 South Main St. (a new owner has opted to have the cleanup done).


6. A strip of land along the north side of the railroad tracks between Main and Vernon.


7. The National Grid property at the corner of Vernon and South.


8. An area in front of the Middle School.


9. The parking lot between the Middle and High School.


10. An area south of the old tennis courts on Alfred St. (may included the old maintenance house).


11. Finishing of work on some properties not completed during the 2019 effort.

Not all the properties along State St. and its side streets will be remediated. A number of them have “No further action required” status and a few will be refusals. No properties on Robertson St will be remediated including those on the corners of State and Robertson (no further action). There are approximately 28 properties to be done.

Work will be performed on weekdays although, as in the past, Saturdays may be used if work falls behind.

As stated, this effort should complete the work in the Air Deposition Area. The areas yet to be remediated are the Tributary between Francis St. and the canal, followed by the tributary from the canal to Pearson Rd, then on to Jeddo and Johnson Creeks in the town of Yates. Also the Culvert from Sleeper St. north will need to be done. All this work will be engineered by FMC with DEC oversight where the work in the Air Deposition Area was done without FMC involvement. However per the new AOC, FMC will pay the estimated more than 51 million dollars spent by the DEC out of the state superfund to do the last six years of cleanup.

To view the DEC announcement concerning residential claenup for 2020 click here. The announcement includes a map of the area with the properties to be remediated shaded in yellow.

On April 18, the DEC updated their remediation plans for 2019 construction season.

Phase 5 of the Roy-Hart school remediation project will begin in April. Areas to the south, west, and north of the high school and areas north of the middle school will be cleaned up. This includes all that area in front of both schools to the State St. right-of-way. The first work to be done will most likely be removal of the trees along State St. Approximately 12,000 cubic yards of soil will be removed. All the work continues to be performed under the over-site of the DEC without FMC involvement. For now, cost will be paid for from The New York State Superfund.

Phase 5 of the Air Deposition Area will also begin in April. Up to 33 properties will be cleaned up this year. The areas includes:

1. The north side of State St. between Hammond Parkway and Butler parkway.


2. Both the east and west side of East Ave.


3. The first two properties on the east side of Butler Pkwy from State. (The other properties on this street have “No further action required” status except for the two on either side at the end of the street next to the canal [as of 2018]. Their status may have changed for 2019.)


4. The grassy island within the circle in Hammond Pkwy.


5. The residential property immediately east of the Middle School on State Rd.


6. The east and west sides of Maple Ave. between State and Park.


7. The north side of Park Ave. between Maple and Vernon.


8. Two properties on the south side of State Street east of Maple. (The third property forms a break point as it has 'No further action required” status.)


9. The east side of Vernon Street between Park and State.


10. Required restoration work not completed during the 2018, Phase 4 effort.

Some properties within these areas will not be remediated as they have “No further action required” status and some may be properties whose owners refuse. The DEC will work with owners to determine what must be removed and how the property will be restored. Work will be conducted by National Vacuum Environmental Services Corporation of Niagara Falls under the over-site of the DEC on weekdays generally between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Full time air monitoring will be employed.

After this year's phase, all that will remains in the Air Deposition Area is State Street between William and Vernon and two feeder streets north of State (William and Washington). All properties on Robertson St. have “No further action required” status. Also, some fields east of the village remain to be done pending owner approval.

To download the DEC announcement for Phase 5 of the Air Deposition Area cleanup, click here.

During December, 2017, FMC held a meeting to introduce their latest Remediation Project manager for the Middleport site. John Paul Rossi who was appointed earlier in the year accepted a job with his old company and left FMC. Nick Schapman is now the project manager. Nick is a construction engineer and had been involved in remediation work for FMC in West Virginia.

During the meeting FMC provided an update on plant activities. They are relining the west surface impoundment area and expanding the capacity of storage tanks that hold runoff water so that during storms more runoff can be retained for processing instead of letting excess unprocessed water flow into the tributary. They also have plans to build a new lab and do other upgrades to the facility. FMC Middleport has a few job openings including a couple of operators and several salaried positions.

In remediation news: FMC submitted a Draft Corrective Measures Study to the NYSDEC for the Jeddo Creek tributary between Frances St and Stone Rd on November 1, 2017. This was by direction of the DEC and their review will be along with consultation with the NYSDOH.

The draft CMS includes four Corrective Measure Alternatives for the creek and surrounding floodplain. Each CMA includes an Interim Corrective Measure for the portion of the creek between Francis St. and the Erie canal. This ICM would be the final remedy for that part of the creek and if completed, no further action would be required. It is not known if, after review, the Agencies would accept any of the CMA's or direct FMC to implement another as they did in the Air Deposition Area. FMC does not believe the Agency's review and subsequent negotiations will be done in time to start remediation work in 2018. FMC also has to devise a plan on how to remediate an active creek.

If you would like to review the Draft CMS Report go to the story below on this website.

The Agencies want to discuss with FMC remediation of the creek between Stone Rd and near Lyndonville. Some sampling was done in 2006 but more will be required in order to perform a Corrective Measures Study. This area is split onto two operable unites: OU7 is between Stone Rd and Ridge Rd, OU8 between Ridge and north of Lyndonville.

The Home Value Assurance program will be extended to December 2018. This program provides cash to property owners who successfully sell their property within a specified time after listing.

As of December, continuing remediation work in the Air Deposition Area is in question. The location of utilities were marked on some properties in the village last fall but there was no announcement from the DEC stating what the plans were as is usually the case. I contacted the DEC and was told that their next remediation effort would be Main St. between South St. and Telegraph Rd., Hammond Parkway including the four properties that face State St. and the block surrounded by Vernon, Maple and Park not already done. (St. Stephens Church was remediated in 2016-2017.) However there is a possibility that no remediation work will be done in 2018. One reason for this uncertainty, may be that the State Appellate Court ruled unanimously in favor of FMC and against the DEC in one of FMC's lawsuits. FMC filed the lawsuit believing they were not given the right to dispute the DEC's unilateral decision to begin remediation of the Air Deposition Area under their own CMA. FMC's position is the Consent Order agreed to by FMC and the Agencies gave them that right. Although the DEC may appeal, seldom is a unanimous decision by the Applet Court overturned. We may know what the DEC plans to do by this spring.

FMC has submitted their Draft Corrective Measures Study Report for the Jeddo Creek tributary between Francis St. and Stone Rd. to the New York State Agencies.

To download the draft, go to the Document Repository and then the subcategory "CMS Reports".

The comments submitted by FMC during the open comment period pertaining to the Hazardous Waste Management Permit written by the DEC is available in the Document Repository.

It is unknown if any comments were submitted by a resident or other stakeholder. The open comment period is now closed.

To download the document click here.