More Toxic Ooze at Alcoa in Massena
Nov 17, 2016 — State environment officials are taking baby steps toward ordering another clean-up of toxic chemicals on Alcoa’s property in Massena. Read More
Alcoa West property in Massena from the air, with the Continuous Mill site highlighted in red. Photo: NY Department of Environmental Conservation
Did the EPA put corporate interests ahead of the environment?
In 2013, Alcoa agreed to invest $600 million and guarantee 900 jobs for 30 years only on condition that the EPA approved this plan. This plan will cost the company $243 million, as opposed to another plan on the table that would have cost Alcoa about $1.3 billion. From Read More
Summary of What Has Been Done to Clean Up the Grasse River Site To-Date*
On September 28, 1989, EPA issued an Administrative Order to Alcoa requiring the company to investigate the extent of contamination in the Grasse River and associated tributaries and wetlands, and to analyze remedial cleanup alternatives for that contamination. The Order also requires Alcoa (now Arconic) to implement the cleanup remedy selected by EPA.
In the summer of 1995, Alcoa completed a non-time-critical removal action that removed highly contaminated sediments from an area near an outfall at the Alcoa facility. Alcoa removed about 3,000 cubic yards of sediment, boulders, and debris which included approximately 8,000 pounds of PCBs.
In September 2012, the EPA issued a Proposed Plan that identified the EPA's preferred remedy and other options that were considered for cleaning up the Grasse River (a/k/a Alcoa Aggregation or Aluminum Company of America) Superfund site, which includes approximately 7.2 miles of the Grasse River from the Massena Power Canal to the confluence of the Grasse River and St. Lawrence River. To encourage public participation, the EPA held multiple formal public meetings and informal information sessions in Massena, NY, and on the Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation, Akwesasne, to discuss its plan. The EPA finalized the plan in an April 2013 Record of Decision.
The cleanup plan requires dredging and capping of contaminated sediment in a 7.2-mile stretch of the river.
Elements of the selected cleanup plan:
- Dredging of approximately 100,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from near-shore areas of the river.
- Disposal of dredged sediment at an on-site permitted, secure landfill.
- Capping of approximately 59 acres of contaminated sediment in the river's main channel (armored cap).
- Capping of another approximately 225 acres of contaminated sediment in the river's main channel with a mix of clean sand and topsoil to isolate contamination from the surrounding environment.
Arconic, Inc. and future assignees are responsible for performing the work at the site.
Habitat that is impacted by the cleanup will be reconstructed. The plan requires long-term monitoring of the capped areas to ensure that the caps remain intact, and monitoring of fish, water and habitat.
Dredging work in the near shore began and was completed in 2019. Dredged near shore areas were backfilled with clean material in 2019 as planned.
In April 2020, EPA modified its plan to address PCBs at the Grasse River site. The modification calls for removal of an additional 90,000 cubic yards of sediment from an area of the river near Snug Harbor, instead of capping.
Snug Harbor is a small embayment (an embayment is a part of a body of water that extends beyond the general shoreline) on the north shore of the Grasse River, located about a third of a mile upstream from where it joins the St. Lawrence River. The change is being made to accommodate a new, larger tugboat purchased by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, wholly owned government corporation, which operates its tugboat out of Snug Harbor. The new tugboat will have greater engine power and will require deeper navigational draft than its current tugboat. As a result, Snug Harbor and the channel leading to the harbor from the St. Lawrence River will need to be dredged, with capping as necessary, to maintain the protectiveness of the cleanup remedy.
The dredging work around the Snug Harbor area will begin in 2020 along with the capping required under EPA’s original plan and habitat reconstruction work to impacted areas. The dredging is expected to be completed in 2020. Capping and habitat reconstruction work will continue through next year (2021). All in-river work is anticipated to be completed by 2022.
The fish consumption advisories established by the New York State Department of Health will remain in effect until PCB concentrations in fish are reduced to the point where the advisories are relaxed or lifted by the state.
*taken from the EPA's website
Arconics Grasse River clean up website http://www.thegrasseriver.com/index.html