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EPA Announces Cleanup Has Been Completed At The Fulton Terminals Federal Superfund Site in Oswego County, New York

Release Date: 10/14/1999
Contact Information: Richard Cahill (212) 637-3666 / [email protected]

(#99163) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the long-term cleanup has been completed at the Fulton Terminal federal Superfund site in Fulton, New York. The 1.5-acre Fulton Terminals site was used from 1972 to 1977 as a staging and storage area for materials scheduled for incineration at the Pollution Abatement Services site in Oswego County, New York, which is also a federal Superfund site. As a result of spills and leakage from storage tanks at the site, the groundwater and the soil became contaminated with volatile organic contaminants (VOCs). The Oswego River is just fifty feet from the site.

"This is a most important milestone because it means that the construction on the site is complete, all immediate threats have been addressed and the long-term hazards have been eliminated," EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox explained.

Beginning in 1986, EPA fenced the site, removed tanks and visibly-contaminated soil and cleaned out storm drains to the Oswego River. In 1989, following the completion of an investigation to determine the nature and extent of the contamination and a study to evaluate cleanup options, EPA selected a cleanup plan for the site. The cleanup included: excavation of the VOC-contaminated soils which were treated on-site by a process called low temperature thermal desorption; extraction of the contaminated groundwater; and its treatment to remove the pollutants. A Consent Decree was signed by the responsible parties in 1990, in which they agreed to carry out the site cleanup. Confirmatory sampling of the contaminated area conducted during the initial stages of the project revealed additional VOC contamination in the silt and clay below the water table. As a result, the scope of the cleanup of the soil was expanded to include this material. Recent groundwater monitoring results have convinced EPA that no further actions are necessary.

For more information contact:

Richard Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]