Regulatory Process

The following are general steps for the characterization and cleanup of inactive waste sites like Harbor Point:

Preliminary Site Assessment

Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study

Interim Remedial Measures

Record of Decision

Design and Construction

Public comments are sought by the NYSDEC when a Preliminary Remedial Action Plan (PRAP) is issued before the Record of Decision.

More information on each of these steps is available at the following NYSDEC web site:

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/der/ihws/factsheets.html

Site Location and Utica Harbor
Remediation of NYTEP Parcel - (Center Right of Photo)

The Site Remediation Program

Remediation of releases and impacts at the Harbor Point site is being addressed by National Grid and overseen by the NYSDEC and New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). The site has been divided into three "Operable Units" for which remediation decisions will be made. Operable Unit 1 is the land portion of the Harbor Point Site. Operable Unit 2 is the Mohawk River. Operable Unit 3 is Utica Harbor, the dredge spoil areas adjacent to the Harbor and storm drains on the Harbor Point site that lead to the Harbor. Records of Decision (RODs) (March 2001) and (March 2002) stipulating the required remedial actions have been issued for Operable Units 1 and 3 (the land and the Harbor). A draft feasibility study has been submitted to NYSDEC for Operable Unit 2 (the Mohawk River).

General Remedial Actions

The site-specific remediation goals that have been set forth in the NYSDEC Record of Decision for the Harbor Point Peninsula are to:

  • Eliminate, to the extent practicable, the environmental threat associated with the migration of contaminated soil including coal tar/NAPL, purifier waste, contaminated groundwater, and contaminated surface water into adjacent Class C surface water bodies (the Mohawk River, Utica Harbor and the barge canal)
  • Eliminate, to the extent practicable, the potential human health and environmental impacts associated with contamination of the groundwater resource from the leaching of contaminants in soil and NAPL and the migration of NAPL. Return groundwater to NYSDEC Class GA Water Quality Criteria to the extent practicable.
  • Eliminate the potential human health and environmental impacts associated with human and terrestrial biota exposure to contaminated surface and subsurface soil, including NAPL, to the extent practicable.
  • Eliminate, to the extent practicable, ingestion of groundwater, which does not attain Part 5, public drinking water standards, of New York State Sanitary Code.
  • Eliminate, to the extent practicable, the threat to the environment posed by the presence of contaminants within the regulatory floodway

The general remedial actions required for the land portions of the Harbor Point Site (OU-1) include:

  • Excavation and on-site low temperature thermal treatment of contaminated soil;
  • Containment of the Water Gas Plant area of the Harbor Point site, with a barrier wall and cap, along with groundwater extraction and treatment;
  • Consolidation and capping of purifier wastes in the Water Gas Plant area;
  • A two foot thick soil cover over approximately 40 acres of the peninsula area;
  • Groundwater treatment (e.g., air sparging) in areas with volatile organic compound contamination;
  • Installation of NAPL recovery wells or trenches; and,
  • Institutional controls to limit development to nonresidential uses, prevent groundwater use as a drinking water source.

The general remedial actions required for Utica Harbor (OU-3) include:

  • Navigational dredging
  • Appropriate management of dredge spoils
  • Installation of a cap over the remaining sediment
  • Cleaning, lining or plugging of storm sewers leading to the Harbor.

The remedy for the Mohawk River (OU-2) is yet to be determined.

Work Recently Completed

During the past year, a significant amount of remediation and additional characterization has been performed including the following:

  • Pre-design Investigations (test pits, borings, wells and sampling) for OU-1 were completed;
  • Impacted soil in the top six feet of the NYTEP property (OU-1) were excavated and disposed of offsite
  • Storm sewers along Washington and Lee Streets were cleaned and slip-lined (OU-3);
  • The sanitary sewers down Washington and Lee Streets were rerouted.
  • Old outfalls leading to the Mohawk River, canal, and harbor were plugged.
  • The final design for the Water Gas Plant barrier wall (OU-1) was approved.

Upcoming Work

National Grid has hired a contractor to construct the Water Gas Plant barrier wall. This operation will require heavy equipment to excavate to depths greater than 50 feet in some locations along Washington and Lee Streets. Construction should be complete by the end of the summer in 2006 and will require some temporary changes in traffic flow and controls in the vicinity of the operation. A community air monitoring program will be put in place to protect workers and the public and to minimize unpleasant odors that are common to remediation of MGP sites.