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Long-Term Cleanup Systems In Place and Operating Effectively At 102nd Street Federal Superfund Site in Niagara Falls, New York

Release Date: 10/04/1999
Contact Information: Mike Basile (716) 551-4410 / [email protected]

(#99155) NEW YORK, N. Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that the long-term cleanup has been completed at the 102nd Street federal Superfund site in Niagara Falls, New York. Cleanup systems and controls at the site are effectively preventing the uncontrolled release of chemicals from this hazardous waste disposal site.

Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC) (formerly the Hooker Chemicals & Plastics Corporation) and Olin Corporation (Olin) deposited at least 159,000 tons of wastes, in both liquid and solid form, into an on-site landfill during the period of active disposal at the site. These wastes included approximately 4,600 tons of benzene, chlorobenzene, chlorophenols, and hexachlorocyclohexanes, all of which are hazardous substances. Under the terms of a Superfund Unilateral Administrative Order issued by the Agency in 1991, these companies carried out the cleanup at the 102nd Street site with EPA oversight.

EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox said, "We are pleased that through the Superfund process and the efforts of the companies responsible for the problem, this complex and difficult cleanup has been successfully completed. "It's been a long road, and its great to see this cleanup come to conclusion."

The site is approximately 27 acres and lies less than one-quarter of a mile directly south of the Love Canal federal Superfund site. The companies responsible parties for the contamination own separate portions of the 22.1 acre landfill.

The major components of the site cleanup, which cost approximately $44 million, included the following actions: consolidation of all contaminated soils; covering material with a synthetic-lined cap; erection of a slurry wall surrounding the site's perimeter to contain the plume of Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (NAPL) emanating from the site; recovery and treatment of leachate (liquid seepage); recovery of NAPL and destruction of any NAPL recovered; removal of contaminated river sediments and reconsolidation of excavated sediments beneath the synthetic-lined cap; rerouting of an existing city storm sewer, which had transected the site, around its eastern perimeter; long-term monitoring of the effectiveness of the cleanup systems; and institutional controls.

Under the terms of a recent federal court approved Consent Decree, OCC and Olin will be responsible for the continuing operation and maintenance (O&M) of the cleanup systems with oversight by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the lead agency for O&M under the Consent Decree. As part of the decree, OCC and Olin have agreed to reimburse EPA $6,800,000, which includes interest, for its past costs. This means that companies will pay approximately 96% of the total cleanup costs at the site. The completion of construction activities at the site is documented in EPA's September 2, 1999) Preliminary Close-Out Report. This report concludes that the work was conducted in accordance with EPA-approved designs and specifications. The report is available for public review at the information repository established for the site at EPA's Niagara Falls Public Information Center, (716) 285-8842.

For more information contact:

Mike Basile, Press Office
EPA Region 2 Niagara Field Office
345 third Street
Niagara Falls, NY 14303
Voice: 716-285-8842 FAX: 716-285-8788 E-Mail: [email protected]