Source: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com, August 24, 2016
By: Craig Fox

Initial environmental remediation work began on Monday in the cleanup at the former New York Air Brake plant on Starbuck Avenue.

William J. Soluri, the center’s director of site facilities, told his board on Tuesday morning that workers started excavating soil from the cleanup site at the current Watertown Center for Business and Industry.

The new $1 million cleanup project, expected to take four months, will focus on the Allison Test Room behind Building C, where contamination was first noticed in 1992 during the cleanup of a hydraulic oil spill.

The cleanup is expected to be complete later this year.

The Allison Test Room cleanup will involve the excavation and treatment of 7,200 cubic yards of petroleum and chlorinated solvent-impacted soil from an approximately 0.4-acre area, according to a fact sheet released by Department of Environmental Conservation officials.

Work also will include removing a concrete slab, treating the soil with oxidizing chemicals to ensure it meets the state’s quality levels and then backfilling the soil, Mr. Soluri told board members. Any soil still containing contaminants will be hauled off site.

Board members wanted to know why it had taken so long for the cleanup project.

“They’ve known about it for years,” Mr. Soluri said, adding that the cleanup was previously prevented because the site had a building on it.

The Allison Test Room, where hydraulic pumps were tested for decades, was leveled by a 2001 fire that destroyed Cellutech Inc. With the building gone, it allows for access to the contaminants, he said.

Once finished, the industrial center, now an incubator for small businesses, can redevelop the site for industrial use, Mr. Soluri said.

State DEC officials announced the remediation project last week.

SPX Cor. — the North Carolina company that was involved in previous Air Brake cleanup efforts — will complete the work.

It’s additional remedial work that began at the former Air Brake plant during the 1990s. Last month, workers started diverting Kelsey Creek to allow for a $1.5 million cleanup of pollutants that were dumped decades ago at the former plant.

At Tuesday’s meeting, board members also learned that two tenants will be moving out of space at the center.

The board agreed to terminate a lease with Air Brake for about 7,000 square feet of warehouse space it’s been using for storage. The lease expires Dec. 31. The company has been paying $3,680 a month for the space since 2013. It no longer needs the space.

All State Construction also soon will be moving out of 1,400 square feet of space and relocate in a warehouse on county Route 32 in the town of Watertown.