Upstate New York Fire Academy Costly to Clean

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Wednesday announced a settlement with eight entities, including Bausch & Lomb, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, and Xerox, which all disposed of hazardous waste at the site from 1954 to 1980.

"My office will hold all polluters - even the nation's largest corporations - accountable when they contaminate New York State," said Cuomo.

He said the state will use the money from this fine to "rehabilitate other hazardous areas."

"The settlement we achieved finally puts to rest a debt long owed to the State of New York," he said. "The dangerous pollutants that put the community at risk have been removed and now those responsible have paid the price."

A fire truck heads for the scene of a blaze in Rochester, New York (Photo credit unknown)

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, DEC, Commissioner Pete Grannis said, "The former Fire Academy site presented a significant threat to the health of the community and greatly impacted the environment, so DEC worked closely with local government officials to perform a comprehensive cleanup that addressed the contamination and protected the public."

The 18 acre Rochester Fire Academy site was opened on Scottsville Road in Rochester in 1954 to train firefighters to combat a range of hazards.

During its operation, private and public entities in the area sent waste solvents, petroleum products, and other flammable substances to the site for use in training exercises.

In 1980 and 1981, sampling conducted at the request of the Department of Environmental Conservation found high levels of toxic chemicals, including lead and cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, contaminating soil and groundwater at the site.

The DEC determined that the site posed a significant threat to public health and the environment and required cleanup, so the Fire Academy was listed as a hazardous waste site under New York state's Superfund program.

The city of Rochester, with partial funding from the Superfund program cleaned up the site by removing polluted soil and treating contaminated groundwater.

The Attorney General's office and the DEC joined forces to track down the parties that had sent hazardous waste to the Fire Academy site for use in firefighter training.

On November 15, 2005, the Attorney General's Office sued eight private and public entities who sent waste to the site – Bausch & Lomb, E.I. du Pont de Nemours, Eastman Kodak Company, Xerox Corporation, Chloride Power Electronics, Rochester Gas & Electric, the University of Rochester, and Monroe County.

The settlement announced by the attorney general ends that lawsuit and requires the eight entities to collectively reimburse New York State $1,575,000.

Money collected in the settlement will be deposited in the State Superfund, where it will be used to help fund cleanups at other contaminated sites. Under DEC oversight, the city of Rochester continues to monitor the Rochester Fire Academy site for signs of pollution.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.