The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently accepting public comments on a proposed plan for Koppers Pond, located in the Kentucky Avenue Wellfield Superfund site in Horseheads, New York, which would mitigate soil and sediment contamination.
The EPA added the site to the Superfund List in 1983, when the Elmira Water Board found trichloroethylene (TCE) in the public water supply. The wellfield was closed and multiple cleanup actions have been employed to address the site’s contamination, including removal of TCE-contaminated soil and sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Koppers Pond remains contaminated with PCBs and heavy metals. To address the contamination, the EPA has proposed a installing a cap on the pond bottom, preventing exposure to the contaminants. The six-inch thick cap would bear a cost of approximately $1.9 million, and the EPA plans to negotiate with the parties responsible for the contamination to cover performance of work. The EPA’s plan also includes limiting use of the pond to activities that do not bear the potential to damage the cap.
The agency is accepting public comments on the proposed plan through Aug. 22, and will hold a public meeting on the subject on Aug. 4 in Elmira, New York, at Elmira College.
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