EPA Finishes $4.8 Million Cleanup at
Ithaca Gun
FOR RELEASE: Friday, October 29, 2004
(#04168) New York, N.Y. -- Lead-tainted soil at the former Ithaca
Gun Company is now cleaned up to acceptable levels, according to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency(EPA). Agency officials marked the end
of the cleanup with a site tour today. Over the past two years, EPA vacuumed
up soil contaminated with lead from spent shot that was scattered throughout
the area.
"In the spring, after some minor restoration work is completed,
EPA will return the once contaminated Fall Creek Gorge area to its former
scenic grandeur," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny.
"The terrain in this area made what would have been a relatively
straight-forward cleanup much more difficult, but we got the job done."
The site covers a gorge, an island and a millrace that was historically
used to divert water from above Ithaca Falls to local industries, including
the gun factory. EPA removed more than 6,000 tons of soil and materials
contaminated with lead from the site. Much of it was sent off-site for
treatment or disposal. EPA had to use vacuums to remove soil; it was not
possible to use conventional heavy equipment. The soil on many areas of
the island and gorge, and most of the millrace were removed to bedrock
and then backfilled with clean topsoil. The cleanup has cost about $4.8
million dollars.
To ensure that the cleanup was going as planned and that people's health
was being protected, EPA sampled the soil extensively throughout the entire
cleanup process. The Agency also monitored to make sure that the lead
was not getting into the air and took steps to minimize dust from the
project. Lead levels in the soil when EPA started work ranged up to 215,000
ppm. Now, the levels average 110 ppm, far below the national cleanup standard
of 400 ppm.
The Ithaca Gun Company manufactured firearms and munitions between 1880
and 1986. The company disposed of spent lead shot from the testing of
firearms on a steep-sloped property adjacent to the gun factory. The site
is immediately adjacent to a popular fishing area in Fall Creek and immediately
downstream from a popular swimming and fishing area in the Fall Creek
Gorge.
EPA collaborated on the cleanup with the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation.
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