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Environmental Remediation

Serving the nation in Environmental Remediation: Environmental Remediation is an important part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This mission area includes a wide range of cleanup programs, including the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program, the Superfund program and the Formerly Utilized Site Remediation Action Program (FUSRAP). New York District's Environmental Branch, working with our partners like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, state and local partners and others, manages several remedial investigations and cleanups  in the region. To find out more about each, look at the District's Environmental Remediation page.

Announcements

Public Notice - Friday, September 27, 2024

U.S. Army, USEPA, and NYSDEC Invite Public Comments

on the Proposed Plan for the Open Detonation (OD) Grounds Munitions Response Site

at the Former Seneca Army Depot Romulus, NY

 

 

The public is invited to attend an in-person meeting on 9 October 2024 about the planned remedial action alternatives at the Former Seneca Army Depot OD Grounds Munitions Response Site (MRS), located in the Towns of Romulus and Varick, Seneca County, New York. The OD Grounds MRS consists of approximately 403 acres in the northwest corner of the Former Seneca Army Depot boundary and contains two areas, the “OD Hill”, an area of elevated topography at the center of the OD Grounds MRS where open detonation operations occurred and the “Kickout Area” which is the portion of the MRS surrounding the OD Hill in which blast fragments emanating from open detonation operations might be found. The Kickout Area extends out approximately 2,500 feet (ft) from the center of the OD Grounds MRS.

 

Geophysical surveys and intrusive investigations, and munitions constituent (MC) sampling events have taken place at the OD Grounds MRS during previous investigations. Based on these previous investigations, the Army believes that unacceptable risks from potential exposure to munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) and MC are present at the OD Grounds MRS. MEC risk assessments have identified that unacceptable risk under current and reasonably anticipated future land use conditions. A risk assessment conducted on the MC sampling results found unacceptable carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks from consumption of groundwater.

 

The U.S. Army has completed the investigation stage and will be discussing the planned remedial alternatives. Implementation of the proposed remedy (Alternative 4, listed below) will reduce the risk associated with MEC or MC potentially remaining on-site by reducing the likelihood of exposure; and the proposed remedy includes educating potential receptors on the risk associated with the potential presence of MEC. The alternatives discussed below were screened for effectiveness, implementability, and cost before being analyzed in a detailed alternative evaluation. This screening process is used to select the most favorable alternatives for a detailed analysis.

 

Based on previous investigation and removal actions at the OD Grounds MRS, the Army evaluated six remedial alternatives to address the potential remaining explosive hazards:

 

  1. No Action (serves only as a baseline to which to compare the other alternatives; it is not a viable option considered for the MRS)
  2. Land Use Controls (LUCs)
  3. Consolidate and cap with surface and subsurface clearance outside the cap and LUCs
  4. Excavate OD Hill to grade and perform surface/subsurface clearance over the entire OD Grounds MRS and LUCs
  5. Excavate the entire OD Grounds MRS to 1 foot below grade and perform surface/subsurface clearance
  6. Excavate the entire OD Grounds MRS and process for off-site disposal

 

Based on the current and future anticipated land use, the results of the previous investigations and response actions, and results of the MEC and MC risk assessments, the Army and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in consultation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and New York State Department of Health, agree that the preferred alternative for the OD Grounds MRS is Alternative 4: Excavate OD Hill to grade, perform surface/subsurface clearance over the entire OD Grounds MRS and LUCs. This alternative is recommended because it provides an acceptable level of MEC reduction for the anticipated future land use, achieves the remedial action objectives (RAOs), does not require significant long-term maintenance, and is cost-effective. This alternative prohibits daycare facilities, playgrounds, agriculture/farming, and camping and requires the Army (or Army contractor) to conduct an annual 3R (i.e., Recognize, Retreat, Report) Explosives Safety Education Program for future site personnel of the Seneca Army Depot OD Grounds MRS.

 

Public Meeting

9 October 2024 at 1:00 to 7:00pm

Former Seneca Army Depot,

5786 State Route 96, Building 125

Romulus, NY 14541

 

At this public meeting, the Army will present and discuss the proposed alternative for the OD Grounds MRS. Members of the public are encouraged to ask questions and provide oral or written comments at the meeting. The Proposed Plan is available for public comment at the following link: https://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/Environmental-Remediation/BRAC/Seneca-Army-Depot/

The entire Seneca Army Depot Administrative Record is available for review at https://senecaarmydepotar.com/. The Army welcomes public comment concerning this site and the proposed remedy. Comments should be provided before 1 November 2024. Upon completion of the review, the findings will be available at the Administrative Record.

 

If you wish to submit comments, please submit them to:

 

Chris Gallo, New York District Project Manager and BRAC Environmental Coordinator (BEC)

Office Phone: 917-790-8230

Email: Christopher.T.Gallo@usace.army.mil

 

Karyn Treinen, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2

Office Phone: 212-637-4436

Email: Treinen.Karyn@epa.gov

 

 

 

Seneca Army Depot

Seneca Army Depot (SEDA) is a 10,587-acre former military facility located in Seneca County near Romulus, New York. It is located between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake in Seneca County and is bordered by New York State Highway 96 to the east and New York State Highway 96A to the west. Sparsely populated farmland surrounds SEDA. The site is located in an uplands area between the two lakes at an elevation ranging from approximately 760 feet (ft) in the southeast corner to a minimum of approximately 600 ft along the western boundary.

The facility was wholly owned by the U.S. Government and was operated by the Department of the Army between 1941 and 2000; since 2000, nearly 10,000 acres of SEDA were transferred to other parties for reuse. The primary mission of SEDA was the receipt, storage, maintenance, and supply of military items.

The Incinerator Building was built in 1974. Between 1974 and 1979, materials intended for disposal were transported to the incinerator. The incinerator was a multiple chamber, batch-fed, 2,000-pound-per-hour capacity unit that burned rubbish and garbage. The unit contained an automatic ram-type feeder, a refractory-lined furnace with secondary combustion and settling chamber, a reciprocating stoker, a residue conveyor for ash removal, combustion air fans, a wet gas scrubber, an induced draft fan and a refractory-lined stack. Nearly all of the 18 tons of refuse generated weekly at the Depot were incinerated. The source for the refuse was domestic waste from Depot activities and family housing. Large items that could not be burned were disposed of at the NCFL. The NCFL is southeast of the Incinerator Building, immediately south of the SEDA railroad line. The NCFL was used as a disposal site for non-combustible materials, including construction debris, from 1969 to 1977.

Ashes and other residues from the incinerator were temporarily disposed of in the Incinerator Cooling Water Pond immediately north of the Incinerator Building. The Incinerator Cooling Water Pond consisted of an unlined depression about 50 feet in diameter and about 6 to 8 feet deep. When the pond filled (about every 18 months), fly ash and residues were removed, transported and buried in the adjacent Ash Landfill. The refuse was dumped in piles and occasionally spread and compacted. No daily or final cover was applied during operation. The active area of the Ash Landfill extended at least 500 feet north of the Incinerator Building, near a bend in a dirt road. A fire destroyed the incinerator in May 1979. The landfill was subsequently closed. A vegetative cover composed of native soils and grasses was observed on the Ash Landfill during the remedial investigation. A grease pit disposal area near the eastern boundary of the site was used for disposal of cooking grease.

After site investigations, EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List in August 1990.