Brockport's 3M/Dynacolor
clean up could include molasses

The recipe for remediation of the 3M/Dynacolor property in Brockport calls for molasses. After outlining four alternatives for further remediation at the contaminated site, Kelly Cloyd, project manager for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, explained the process of introducing food grade molasses into the soils to enhance bioremediation.

Cloyd explained to the roomful of people gathered at a public hearing at Seymour Library on March 3, that bioremediation allows natural processes to clean up harmful chemicals in the environment. Microscopic "bugs" or microbes that live in the soil and groundwater like to eat certain harmful chemicals, such as those found in gasoline and oil spills. Once microbes digest the chemicals they change them into water and harmless gases such as carbon dioxide. The remediation process proposed for the Brockport site consists of groundwater treatment using an in-sit reactive zone (IRZ) technology. IRZ employs the addition of a food grade molasses to the subsurface to provide excess organic carbon for bacteria to utilize.

The process will likely cost $1,330,000 and would take two days to complete. As part of the process, more than 50 injection wells will be used and the molasses would be filtered to the subsurface. Institutional controls would be implemented to monitor the effectiveness of the remediation plan. The process of the molasses injections would be a two to three year process before its effectiveness could be measured, Cloyd said.

The meeting, which drew about 50 people, was hosted by the DEC and by the New York State Department of Health and the Monroe County Health Department. It was a time for the DEC to outline its proposal for the continuation of the clean up efforts of the land on 180 State Street, Oxford Street and the former Boy Scout cabin property.

The former 3M/Dynacolor Brockport facility was originally developed in 1893 by the Brockport Piano Manufacturing Company which operated the facility until 1913. It went through many uses including being home to a factory that manufactured galvanized buckets and manufactured boxes. The site was purchased in 1956 by the Dynacolor Corporation which used the facility to process photographic film. 3M purchased the site in 1961 and used it for photo processing until 1978 when it ceased operations. It was during the early years of the plant's operation that cyanide-bearing wastes were reportedly being disposed on-site through the use of a leachfield.

3M took a number of actions to address contamination at the site and in 1986 the DEC listed the site as a Class 2a in the Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites in New York. A Class 2 site is a site where hazardous waste presents a significant threat to the public health or the environment and action is required. Various remediation plans were undertaken beginning in 1998 with the excavation and removal of contaminated sewer manholes. From 1998 to the fall of 2002 excavation, demolition and the removal of more than 14,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil was undertaken. Also as part of the remediation efforts, five residential properties east of Oxford Street were purchased and demolished.

Cloyd pointed out that the site offered no completed exposure pathways to humans. "Based on the data that's been collected and evaluated, human exposure to contaminated groundwater and soils is not presently occurring," he said. "We don't know of anyone who is being exposed."

Questions were raised as to what the site's usage would be once the remediation was complete. Cloyd said the site would be zoned for industrial or commercial use only.

Written comments will be accepted until March 22. The information collected will be compiled into a responsiveness summary which will be described and the remedy selected.

Comments may be sent to Cloyd at the NYS DEC, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon, NY 14414.