Published: March 02, 2007 02:10 am            

ENVIRONMENT: DEC calls for fence on State Road clean-up site

The Common Council is objecting to a state proposal to address soil pollution on State Road by fencing in the area.

The council is expected to approve a resolution next week calling on the Department of Environmental Conservation to instead remove dirty soil in the 2.1-acre parcel north of the Stevens Street bridge.

“We want it cleaned up, not fenced in,” Council President John Lombardi III said.

Testing of the lot, which in the early 20th century was the State Road Tar Works, showed “some” residual contamination by coal tar, according to a DEC fact sheet.

“No impacts to the (Erie) canal or other off-site areas were observed,” the sheet said. “The residual contamination does not pose a current threat to human health.”

The lot is currently home to a NYSEG gas regulator station. The station is already fenced in and the ground around it is covered with crushed stone.

The DEC proposed covering the entire lot with crushed stone and fencing it all to prevent future exposure to the coal tar.

Lombardi said the DEC reasoned it would be less disruptive aesthetically to extend fencing than to pull out trees while removing soil.

“I don’t see many trees in there, so I don’t see a big, ugly fence being a better solution,” he said.

The DEC projects the cost of covering and fencing the lot would be about $80,000. Removing and replacing the top 3 to 4 inches of soil throughout would cost more than twice that, Lombardi said he was told.

Coal tar is a thick liquid by-product of coal distillation. In small concentrations, it is used in medications including psoriasis and head lice treatments. In higher concentrations, according to National Institutes of Health, it is a carcinogen.

The DEC already held a public meeting to air its proposal. Written comments are still being accepted through March 9.

The full text of the DEC’s “proposed remedial action plan” can be read at Lockport Public Library, 23 East Ave. Written comments can be sent to William Ottaway, NYSDEC, Division of Environmental Remediation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12200-7014.

        

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