67°
CROTON FALLS, N.Y. - The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has officially certified that the site formerly known as Dino & Artie’s Transmission Shop, an area of approximately 0.575 acres on Croton Falls Road, has met all the requirements of the New York State DEC regarding the removal of underground storage tanks and related contaminated soil. The certificate of approval has been presented to Supervisor Warren Lucas and the property is now ready for re-development.
The former Dino & Artie’s Transmission is surrounded by residential and commercial properties, with the railroad tracks on the west side. The building was in service for at least 75 years. It was expanded in the 1970s to include a garage and a lumber storage yard. It has been said that waste oil from the transmission shop was discharged into a septic tank and then pumped onto the ground. On more than one occasion the flammable materials soaking the soil caught fire.
The Town of North Salem acquired the property in 1992 for nonpayment of taxes. A 1996 investigation exposed a number of underground tanks as well as petroleum and solvent contaminants in the soil. Interim remedial measures were taken in 1999, including the removal of some underground tanks. In 2004, the onsite buildings were demolished and the remaining underground tanks removed.
Two feet of clean soil was eventually spread on the site. Any new occupied buildings will be required to have an active sub-slab depressurization system (SSDS) to counteract potential volatile organic vapors that may remain below. Water will require ongoing testing.
The State of New York provided funding for the clean-up project to the extent of 90% of costs. The Town of North Salem paid 10%, Supervisor Lucas explained at the November 22 board meeting. The final costs came to $990,000. It took 12 years. The future use of the land has yet to be decided.
Comments (1)
Holy Smokes! Is this article "saying" that to clean up the 0.575 acres (a little over half and acre) it cost $990,000.000? That's one expensive half-acre! I'm puzzled over the fact that for that amount of money spent on site clean-up, contaminated soil was covered up was covered up, and with only two feet of clean soil. What measures are being taken to monitor surrounding water-shed area's and wells in the vicinity? I would think that if the soil was that saturated with volatiles, long-term monitoring would be required.