WPCNR City Confidential. By John F. Bailey. © 2006, The CitizeNetReporter. All rights reserved. June 21, 2006: Wendy Rosenbach, spokesperson for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation told WPCNR today that the reason the DEC is asking the city for a testing plan to determine the present state of TCE contamination in the ground water emanating from the city dump is, “the TCE levels didn’t go down that much” after 26 barrels containing “traces” of the contaminent, TriChloroEthylene, a degreaser and cleaning solvent were removed from the dump in 1998-99.

Rosenbach said the DEC’s made its decision calling for a new testing plan based on the results of the city ground well monitoring. She said the DEC will be reviewing the testing plan to be submitted by Department of Public Works Commissioner Joseph Nicoletti, and held out the possibility of doing “split-tests” with the city to confirm the city findings.

She said today there is no date set for a meeting with the city on the compost operation that Nicoletti presented solutions for May 31.

Rosenbach said there was no TCE threat to the city drinking water, but that TCE was in the ground water running off from the site of the compost and city landfill.  She did not have the levels of TCE available.

DEC did not require remediation in mid-80s.

WPCNR learned from Michael Graessle, Executive Officer of the Del Vecchio Administration, who recalled that the chemical was identified as “carbon tetrachloride” and was discovered in the dump. Graessle said that the DEC said the city did not have to remove that chemical at the time. He recalls:

“The best of my recollection the city had been notified by the DEC that there was a contamination of the water flowing down from the West branch of the Mamaroneck River that flows down to Long Island Sound. They discovered the material was a cleaning fluid, my recollection was it was carbon tetrachloride, and it was emanating from their belief at the city’s landfill. Expoloration was done and indeed it was found through some testing to be some 50 gallon drums that had apparently been buried many years earlier. They had rusted through and the content was now leaking out and contaminating the water.

There appeared to be some stone underneath that was bowled in shape, so the carbon tet would leak into that and gather there and in rainstorms, it was then flushing up and over the edge of the rock,  then traveling into the water stream and reaching down into the West Branch of the Mamaroneck River. The state then asked that the city not excavate, but rather to test it and monitor the well water. I was a little surprised because I thought it would be more appropriate to dig it up and then relocate the soil and treat it as contaminated soil and remove anymore remaining liquids.  The city had agreed to a 5 year monitoring period and testing wells to go on as long as needed.

Graessle said he did not recall the removal of the drums reported by Rosenbach to WPCNR.

Graessle also recalled as Commissioner of Planning during the Delfino Administration a gas station on Gedney Way experienced a problem with their fuel tanks, also requiring city monitoring. That leakage, he said went into the landfill area. “The state DEC did require the city do to reclamation there. Many people will recall they had a pile of dirt excavated out sitting on the land for more than a year. The city had test wells put on the landfill to test for that.”