The facility is located at 30 Kellogg Road, City of Cortland, Cortland County, New York, 13045. The property is approximately 50 acres in size and contains a large main production building, interconnected with several smaller production buildings, an office building and several support buildings, including a flammable storage building and a hazardous waste storage garage. The size of the facility buildings are estimated at 367,000 ft2.
The Buckbee-Mears facility was purchased by International Electron Devices (IED) on October 26, 2004. IED operated the facility until May, 2005, when they closed due to a lack of funding. A large number of the bulk chemicals used in production and the chemical wastes from past operations were abandoned on Site. These materials included: strong acids and caustics in large tanks, drums, process piping and numerous small containers throughout the facility. Approximately 7 cylinders of chlorine gas were also abandoned on Site.
During the summer of 2006, the Cortland Police Department responded to a report of vandalism and became concerned when they discovered the large amount of chemicals which had been abandoned at the Site. The Cortland Police subsequently notified the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) of their findings. On July 27, 2006, representatives from the NYSDEC, the Cortland Police and Fire Departments and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a Site visit. The visit confirmed the presence of numerous hazardous substances in drums, tanks and cylinders throughout the facility. The potential for a chemical release was deemed serious because the facility was idle with no security and all utilities had been terminated. On August 1, 2006, the NYSDEC formally requested the EPA to conduct a removal action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) at this Site.
Negotiations with the PRP to perform the required clean up actions resulted in EPA issuing an Administrative Order on September 29, 2006. The PRP initially complied with the Order, but ceased correspondence with EPA in early November, 2006. Following several acts of vandalism at the facility, EPA initiated a Removal Action on January 10, 2007.
Site security was in place during all non-working hours this period and no incidents were reported. One hallway where mold is multiplying was secured and entry prohibited. Two areas, in Building #5, that have been damaged by water leaking from the roof continue to be off-limits.
During the reporting this reporting period, WRS personnel continued purging and cutting chemical process piping. 1,550 gallons of residual materials contained inside the piping was placed into drums. During the four weeks, 27,240 linear feet of various chemical feed lines were addressed, bringing the total to date to 116,100 feet. In addition, two 40-CY roll-offs of C&D debris were shipped off-site. A subcontractor, Hudson Technologies, completed the draining and collection of refrigerant. In excess of 5,700 pounds of refrigerant was collected. Concurrent with this activity, WRS personnel are also removing fluorescent bulbs, ballasts, mercury gauges/switches, and draining oils from various motors and generators.
The AST continues to monitor work zone safety and provide air monitoring.
Building conditions continue to deteriorate due to extensive roof leaks, burst water and chemical feed pipes and significant mold growth. Leaking acid feed pipes accelerate the deterioration process. These worsening conditions significantly have required the EPA to increase the scope of their removal action. In addition, the information offered by a former maintenance person at the facility proved inaccurate; that resulted in far more contamination remaining in the process piping than originally thought.
EPA will continue Site security during all non-working hours. ERRS will pursue disposal and recycling options for the waste material remaining on-Site. The AST will continue to provide air monitoring and oversight of work zone health and safety and compliance to the HASP.
Since the condition of the buildings has worsened, EPA has increased its scope of work to include removal and disposal of process piping, cleaning and dismantling of tanks, decontamination of building interiors, salvaging equipment, scrapping of metal components and, may include demolition of some buildings.
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