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Ithaca, NY - In a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Alan Steinberg, U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey called on the agency to immediately revisit the former Ithaca Gun Company manufacturing site, which independent tests have shown remains contaminated with lead and other toxic chemicals. Hinchey, who helped bring the site to the EPA's attention in 2000 and worked to get the agency to initiate an Emergency Removal Action cleanup, urged Steinberg to consider placing the site on the federal Superfund program's National Priorities List.
"The Emergency Removal Action cleanup, which I urged the EPA to undertake in 2000, was a lengthy and difficult process, and I shared in the optimism that your predecessor expressed in October 2004 when she stated that 'we got the job done.' Alarmingly, it now appears that this is not the case," Hinchey wrote. "It is imperative that EPA take swift action to verify and delineate the extent to which this site remains contaminated and the threat it poses to public health and safety."
A copy of the letter follows.
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September 21, 2006
The Honorable Alan J. Steinberg
Regional Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2
290 Broadway
New York, NY 10007-1866
Dear Mr. Steinberg,
I am writing to express my deepest concerns regarding the public health threat posed by the contaminated former Ithaca Gun Company manufacturing site in Ithaca, New York.
Recent reporting by The Ithaca Journal has raised grave concerns about the effectiveness of your agency’s $4.8 million cleanup. This Emergency Removal Action cleanup, which I urged EPA to undertake in 2000, was a lengthy and difficult process and I shared in the optimism that your predecessor expressed in October 2004 when she stated that “we got the job done”. Alarmingly, it appears now that this is not the case. Independent testing conducted recently has revealed levels of lead and other toxic chemicals at concentrations that put the public at immediate risk. I find it extremely disturbing that the very threats that the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) concluded were present in 2000, remain present today.
It is imperative that EPA take swift action to verify and delineate the extent to which this site remains contaminated and the threat it poses to public health and safety. I urge EPA to work with the City of Ithaca and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to ensure that sampling is done immediately that will verify what these independent tests have found. I also request that the City of Ithaca be fully advised on precautionary measures that should be put in place to protect residents.
It appears that the Emergency Removal Action initiated five years ago was insufficient in addressing the remediation requirements of this site. This begs the question of whether the entire polluted area, both the property held by the City and the privately owned buildings, should be placed on the Federal Superfund program’s National Priorities List. I would like to suggest that this site be scored for such placement.
I look forward to hearing from you on these matters and working with EPA to address this critical situation.
Best regards.
Sincerely,
Maurice D. Hinchey
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