A recently-launched NYSEG project will clean contamination from two sites associated with former manufactured gas plants in Auburn.
The work will take place at 211 Clark St., a site that was shut down in 1946, and at 23 McMaster St., which shut down in 1904.
The plants were used by NYSEG and its predecessor companies to produce gas for heating homes and businesses by heating coal inside the plant. The process created a tar that contained chemical contaminants benzene, ethylbenzene, xylene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Those containments slipped into the surrounding environment, including the Owasco River, investigations by NYSEG found. Impacts were found in the soil and groundwater beneath the property, and to a lesser extent in the bedrock beneath the site and in Owasco River sediments.Â
NYSEG started cleanup this month, which will happen in four phases and take until 2017.
• Excavation and off-site disposal of coal tar impacted soil, which is about 15 feet deep. Clean soil, by NYSEG's requirements, will backfill the excavated area.
• Removal of sediment affected by coal tar from Owasco River. River water will temporarily be diverted through pipes for the removal.
• Installation of a 12-inch thick gravel surface cover. Soil and plants will be placed along the bank of the Owasco River.
• Installation of wells to allow for observation and collection of coal tar in the groundwater.
• Establishment of environmental easement to limit use of property to commercial and industrial uses consistent with local zoning.
The first phases started this month and will involve the soil removal.
