The RN Hitchcock Electroplating Facility Site ("Site") is located at 58 Green Street in the Village of Port Byron, Town of Mentz, Cayuga County, New York. The Site is situated in the primarily residential area of Port Byron, which is surrounded by the Town of Mentz.
The Site was a former electroplating and metal-finishing facility which was operated by various owners from 1946 until 2003. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“NYSDEC”) began a series of site investigations related to the facility’s operations in 2003 and determined that the facility had been abandoned by its operators. During their investigations, NYSDEC identified unknown chemicals remaining in drums, open vats, tanks and small containers and an underground settling tank located on the east side of the site. On November 2, 2005, NYSDEC requested assistance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to remediate the site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).
EPA initiated assessment activities in December 2005. EPA assessment activities as of May 2006 included a formal Removal Site Evaluation (RSE) consisting of a gross inventory of hazardous substances and pollutants that were stored at the Site, a visual evaluation of Site conditions and sampling of the underground settling tank and some of the vats and containers. The results of the Site assessment/RSE confirmed that there were approximately seventeen open-top vats containing corrosive plating solutions and various chemical containers including 55-gallon drums, 5-gallon pails and an assortment of 40 and 50 pound bags of dry chemical. Many of the drums and other containers held acids, basic solutions, cyanide solutions, chromate solutions, flammable liquids, oxidizers and other hazardous materials. Many of the chemicals were improperly stored and in containers of poor integrity.
Sampling of various containers confirmed the presence of flammable liquids, acids, cyanides, and heavy metals. Heavy metals detected include cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc.
EPA initiated clean-up activities in October 2006 and is in the process of removing the hazardous materials from the Site. An environmental investigation is on-going to determine the nature and extent of any potential site contamination that may have resulted from previous site activities.
