Source: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com, May 5, 2016
By: Gordon Block
The Army is expected to pay nearly $1.5 million to clean contamination at Fort Drum dating back more than 30 years.
The remediation for the 3800 PCE Site at Oneida Avenue will include the injection of chemicals such as sodium permanganate to clean contaminants and add oxygen to the groundwater, along with periodic review of the site.
The post will also be required to restrict the use of groundwater as a source of potable or process water.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation estimated the cost of the remedy will be $1,480,100. There is no designated timetable for the cleanup work to finish.
DEC last week released its decision for cleaning the site on the main post area, which has been reviewed since 2010.
The 203-acre site encompasses the old sanitary landfill, which was used from 1940 to 1973 for the disposal of general refuse and oil and lubricant waste, along with a former vehicle storage site.
“It’s our belief that there were some solvents dumped in the ground, and it was probably equivalent of maybe a 55-gallon drum,” said remediation manager Paul O. Zang in an interview with the Fort Drum Mountaineer. “I hate to say it, but back then there wasn’t this environmental mindset or the regulations that we have now. It was not uncommon for people to just dig a hole and dump it.”
He also told the post paper that the DEC decision was a milestone for the Army’s work.
Research found tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene contamination in soil and groundwater samples, at levels below the cleanup objective. The highest concentration of PCE detected by the DEC was 906 parts per billion.
The DEC said injections of oxidants into the ground in 2012 and 2015 showed reductions in the contaminants.
The state agency said people are unlikely to contact the soil due to caps placed when it was closed, and the post uses water unaffected by the contamination.