By Kristine Coulter – Staff Writer
April 21, 2010
Fishkill – Glenham residents came out to an informational meeting to hear about and voice their concerns regarding Chevron’s plans for the former Texaco site. Building removal, according to officials, will begin later this month. Forty-three of the 64 buildings on the site will be taken down to basement or foundation slab level.
“We’re about to start the next phase.” Said Mark Hendrickson, Chevron Environmental Management Company. Hendrickson, the project manager for the site, said the goals are simple about phase one of the project. Some of the goals Hendrickson mentioned were: to maintain compliance with federal, state and local laws; work safely; to keep the community in the know regarding the project and ultimately prepare the site for future use.
The site was used as a textile mill in the 1800s by the Glenham Co. In 1917 Braenburn Woolen Co. built new buildings, as a number of the older buildings were torn down. The 140-acre site was purchased and renovated by Texaco in 1931. The site was used as a crude oil refining research facility. Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001 and two years later the Research Center was closed.
“We have 140-150 acres,” said Hendrickson.
Craig Butler is an environmental engineer. He works for Parsons, which will be overseeing the assessment activities.
“DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) is the lead regulatory agency we work with on this project.” Said Butler. New York State Department of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are the other agencies working with Parsons and Chevron.
“Chevron has always been in compliance with all regulatory [rules] at the site,: claimed Butler.
Butler stated the overall goal is “to obtain regulatory closure.”
A voluntary facility investigation and supplemental investigation are being done, said Butler.
A Corrective Measures Study (CMS) is also being completed. The CMS is all the data compiled, explained Butler, which will be submitted to NYS DEC and U.S. EPA in 2011. The CMS looks at all the possible clean up alternatives.
Butler said debris from the buildings would be reused and recycled, as much as possible, with the rest possibly going to a landfill in Pennsylvania.
Neil Cope, Project Coordinator for ENTACT, spoke during the 25-minute presentation.
“We maintain one of the highest safety records in the industry,” he claimed. He said the goal is to keep traffic at a minimum; keep noise and dust to a minimum; and to provide security at all times. The daily removal will be grouped into “pods,” he said.
Truck drivers will undergo orientation and trucks will be secured and labeled, said Cope.
The plan is to minimize dust from the concrete and wallboard by spraying water on the debris.
The First question asked by a concerned resident how will the air be monitored?
Cope said the state has guidelines that must be followed.
“There are monitors that will detect and give you a quantified number of particulates,” said cope. Butler added there is a community air monitoring program, which will be kept upwind and downwind. An alarm will sound if particulates leave the site area, claimed Butler.
Another resident brought up concerns about the air quality.
“We plan to use standard industry practices,: said Cope. “I don’t know what your guys are envisioning. It’s not gonna be like a dustbowl engulfed Fishkill.”
When asked how many monitors are currently on the site, Cope said 130 monitors are on site.
There is a storm water management prevention plan, which ENTACT will be implanting catch basins to protect the Fishkill Creek, which was a concern also brought up by residents.
“We’re going to have target measures on catch basins,” said Butler. According to Butler, there are weekly inspections, which he signs off on. The Town of Fishkill will have regular inspections as well, he said.
The only place soil samplings have not been tested, Butler told residents, are under the footprints of the building. Chevron officials anticipate the foundations and slabs will be done in the last half of 2013.
Asbestos removal from buildings is currently on going, said Hendrickson.
Future use of the site is “currently not known,” said Hendrickson. The site is zoned by the Town of Fishkill as Planned Industrial, however other uses could be analyzed as site evaluation moves forward, said Chevron officials. The site will be ready for redevelopment, according to chevron officials, in five years at the earliest. Building removal is scheduled to continue through November of this year.
