News Releases from Region 02

EPA Deletes Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal Superfund Site, Ellenville, New York from federal Superfund list

ELLENVILLE, N.Y. - After completing all cleanup work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has deleted the Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal Superfund Site from the National Priorities List, which is the federal Superfund list of the most contaminated hazardous waste sites. Ellenville is within a designated federal Opportunity Zone – an economically-distressed community where new investment, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.

“Cleaning up contaminated lands and returning them to safe and productive use is a top priority for EPA and I am pleased that our work at the Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal site is completed and we are turning the page on its designation as a Superfund site,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “Regular site inspections of the landfill cap at this site and the surrounding areas show that the work we did here is complete and continues to protect people. This a Superfund success story for this community.”

Deletion of a site from the “National Priorities List” occurs when site cleanups are successfully completed, and no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment.

EPA has confirmed that restrictions are in place at the Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal Superfund Site, such as restrictive covenants and environmental easements, for limiting future use of the site and the use of the groundwater to protect the cleanup. Long-term activities at the site will continue, including operating and maintaining the landfill cap system that vents gas from the inactive landfill and continued monitoring of the groundwater. EPA will conduct reviews every 5 years to ensure the effectiveness and the protectiveness of the cleanup. EPA accepted public comments on the proposed deletion for 30 days before deleting the site.

Background

The Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal Superfund Site is a 24-acre inactive scrap iron and metal reclamation facility that began operations in the 1950s and operated into the 1990s on Cape Road. The facility was used as a landfill, as well as a dump for tires and batteries. Following site investigations and short-term cleanups called removal actions, the site’s long-term remedy was put in place, mainly the installation of a landfill cap. Operation and maintenance activities for the remedy are ongoing. The site was placed on the Superfund list in 2002.

The federal Superfund cleanup at the site, completed in 2011, included:

• All buildings and facilities associated with previous site operations have been demolished and removed. All other debris piles and assorted debris were assessed, sampled and removed.
• EPA dug up and consolidated contaminated soil on-site.
• The landfill was securely capped to prevent contaminants from leaching out of the landfill into the groundwater.
• Monitoring wells were installed, the landfill area fenced off and the landfill cap seeded with new vegetation. The cleanup finished in the fall of 2011.
• Placement of institutional controls on the properties associated with the site cleanup.
• Ongoing operating and maintenance activities, including groundwater sampling, for the site’s remedy.

To review the close-out report for the Ellenville Scrap Iron and Metal Peter Cooper Superfund site, please visit: https://semspub.epa.gov/src/collection/02/AR65413

Congress created the Superfund program in 1980 to protect human health and the environment by responding to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants and contaminants. For nearly 40 years, in communities across the country, Superfund has been one of EPA’s most visible and vital programs.

Learn more: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/superfund

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2.

19-091