Asbestos Cleanup Progress at Sinclair Refinery in New York

Read more about the progress of the cleanup at the Sinclair Refinery in Wellsville, New York. The site was contaminated with asbestos and other dangerous environmental pollutants.

Progress report

In 1985, the EPA issued a Record of Decision which established the consolidation and capping of two small landfills with asbestos and partial channelization of the adjacent Genesee River as the remedy for OU1.

All remedial activities under OU1 were completed by 1994, with approximately 464,640 tons of waste material contained within the landfill.

OU2: In 1991, the EPA issued a Record of Decision which established the excavation and disposal of surface soils exceeding the remedial cleanup criteria for arsenic and lead and the treatment of contaminated site groundwater as the remedy for OU2.

Completion of the surface soils excavation was accomplished in 1994, with the removal of approximately 24,000 tons of contaminated soil. Groundwater treatment has been addressed in two phases.

Phase 1, accomplished primarily through air sparging and soil vapor extraction, was initiated in 1995 and completed in 2003, resulting in the removal of over 150,000 pounds of subsurface contamination.

A Phase 2 groundwater remedy which addresses continued groundwater treatment, protection of the Genesee River, and the removal of isolated contaminant hot spots is currently in design. A portion of the Phase 2 remedy will be constructed in 2007.

Completion of the Phase 2 remedy will permanently mitigate contaminant migration from the site and eliminate all risks to human health and the environment.

Courtesy of the EPA