by Alex Brooks
As predicted by State officials at the June 19 PFOA meeting at the Hoosick Falls Central School, two more sites in Hoosick Falls were named to the list of State Superfund sites on July 13. These are the former Oak Materials Site on Lyman Street and lower John Street, and Saint Gobain’s Liberty Street plant next to the Polish Hall.
The site on Lyman Street and Lower John Street no longer has a building on it. The building was the first site in Hoosick Falls occupied by Cleveland Dodge when he was developing his Teflon businesses, and it later was a production site for the Oak Materials Group. DEC’s statement on the site said it has been added to the Registry of Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites as a Class 2 site because it presents “a significant threat to public health and/or the environment.” This site has undergone extensive testing for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and TCE and 1,1,1,TCA were detected in soil, soil vapor and groundwater at concentrations that exceed DEC’s safety guidance. PFOA and PFAS were also detected in groundwater on this site at concentrations that exceed DEC’s guidance for safe levels. The VOCs are migrating through the soil to some extent, and nine of the 19 homes whose basements or soil under the basements were tested for VOCs had to have some kind of mitigation actions taken to prevent them from getting into the houses.
Saint-Gobain’s Liberty Street plant was also listed as a Class 2 site because of high concentrations of PFOA and PFAS. DEC’s statement said “PFOA is migrating from the facility in groundwater and surface water,” and these “represent a significant threat to public health.”
DEC’s investigation of these sites is ongoing.