According to a press release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, funding is in place and work on the first phase of site cleanup, the demolition of the remaining on-site buildings (except for Warehouse 9, which is located to the north of Jackson Street across from the main property), is about to begin.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently delivered equipment and supplies to the site and made arrangements for field support services. Clean-out of the buildings to prepare them for demolition will soon take place. It is anticipated that demolition of the buildings will start in early October 2015 and will be completed by December 2015.
An air monitoring program will ensure that dust suppression operations function as designed, action levels are not exceeded and the public and on-site workers are protected. Should action levels be exceeded during the work, an air monitoring network will immediately detect it and the EPA and their contractors will take corrective actions, according to the press release.
Future cleanup work includes relocation of an existing 12-inch water main that runs through the center of the site along Jackson Street and South Main Street. This work is anticipated to start in spring 2016.
The site includes the Diaz Chemical Corporation facility, 40 Jackson Street, Village of Holley, and parts of the surrounding residential neighborhood. The Diaz Chemical facility is situated on an approximately five acre parcel of land. It is bounded on the north by Jackson Street, where residential parcels and a parcel of land owned by Diaz chemical, which includes a parking lot and a warehouse, are located. To the east, it is bounded by residential parcels on South Main Street. To the south and west, it is bordered by Conrail railroad tracks, beyond which lie undeveloped land, a former Duffy-Mott Corporation, Inc. building now used as a storage/shipping facility and a small tributary to the East Branch of Sandy Creek.
The Diaz Chemical facility was initially developed as an industrial plant in the 1890s and was used primarily for tomato processing and cider vinegar production before being purchased by Diaz Chemical in 1974. Diaz Chemical was a manufacturer of specialty organic intermediates for the agricultural, pharmaceutical, photographic, color and dye, and personal care products industries. The Diaz Chemical product line varied over the years of operation, but primarily consisted of halogenated aromatic compounds and substituted benzotrifluorides.
An accidental air release from the Diaz Chemical facility occurred on January 5, 2002, when a reactor vessel in a process building overheated, causing its safety valve to rupture and release approximately 75 gallons of a chemical mixture through a roof stack vent. The release consisted primarily of a mixture of steam, toluene and 2-chloro-6-fluorophenol, as well as related phenolic compounds. The mixture landed on properties in the residential neighborhood immediately adjacent to the facility and was visible as red colored droplets on homes. Soon after the release, residents complained of acute health effects, such as sore throats, headaches, eye irritation, nosebleeds, and skin rashes. As a result of the release, several residents voluntarily relocated to area hotels with assistance from Diaz Chemical. On July 22, 2004, the site was placed on EPA’s National Priorities List.
More information may be found at EPA’s website: http://wwwepa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/diazchemical/ Questions about the demolition work may be directed to Lou DiGuardia, On-Scene Coordinator at (732) 906-6927 or by email at diguardia.lou@epa.gov or John DiMartino, Remedial Project Manager, at (212) 637-4270 or by email at: dimartino.john@epa.gov
