Hanna Furnace Parcel 4 Environmental Restoration Project Site
Cleanup Plan Proposed for Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park (Hanna Furnace) Parcel 4
Fact Sheet - January 2009
Introduction
Former Hanna Furnace building (now demolished)
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC) invite you to attend a public meeting regarding proposed cleanup activities at the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park-Parcel 4 Site in Buffalo, Erie County. At the meeting, representatives from DEC, BUDC, and New York State Department of Health (DOH) will present a proposed cleanup plan for the site and be available to answer questions from the public. The proposed cleanup plan, called the "Proposed Remedial Action Plan" (PRAP) is also available for your review at the locations listed at the end of this fact sheet, and on the DEC website. Public comments on the PRAP will be accepted between January 29 and March 15, 2009 and may be submitted to the DEC project manager listed below.
Cleanup work will be performed under the Environmental Restoration Program (ERP) established by New York State's 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act. Through the ERP, DEC provides financial assistance to local governments for the cleanup and restoration of brownfields sites. A brownfield is currently unused, abandoned, or idle property that may have been used for industrial purposes in the past but no longer contributes to the tax base of a municipality.
This fact sheet is being provided to explain why a cleanup plan for the Parcel 4 Site is being proposed, what the proposed cleanup activities will involve, and how to obtain more information.
Site Background
Parcel 4 is a 20-acre property located at 1714 Fuhrman Blvd., north of the former Union Ship Canal near Route 5 at the southern part of the City of Buffalo.
The property was owned by Hanna Furnace, an industrial facility that processed iron ore into iron from 1903 to 1983, when the facility closed. The last of Hanna Furnace's blast furnaces and buildings were demolished in 2003; all that remains is the Union Ship Canal. Separate cleanup and redevelopment efforts similar to those described in this fact sheet have occurred and are occurring at parcels 1, 2, and 3.
To determine the type and location of contamination at the site, BUDC conducted a site investigation between January 2006 and January 2007. The findings of that investigation and an evaluation of potential cleanup alternatives are described in the October 2008 Site Investigation/Remedial Alternatives report, available at the locations listed at the end of this fact sheet and the DEC website.
The investigation revealed that the entire site is covered with a layer of fill material 10 to 25 feet thick. The fill is composed of disturbed, natural materials including clay, sand, silt, boulders, dredged lake sediments and shale rock, as well as the raw materials and byproducts of iron and steel production such as ash, slag, iron ore, limestone and construction/demolition debris (e.g. wood, bricks and concrete).
The site is generally flat, but there are two areas of pronounced fill material in raised fill mounds. The Debris Disposal pile, located near the center of the site, is composed of native materials including sand, gravel, cobbles and boulders and fill materials including black sand, ash, slag, brick concrete, wire rope (cable), tires, crushed stone, metal debris and various other construction and demolition debris. The Filter Cake/Flue Ash pile at the western end of the Site is composed entirely of black fine-grained ash, collected from the exhaust of the iron blast furnaces.
The 45,000 to 55,000 cubic yards of ash in and around the Filter Cake/Flue Ash pile are contaminated with lead. Some samples of the ash exhibited the characteristics of a hazardous waste due to the high concentration and mobility of the contamination. The fill material which covers the entire site is contaminated with other metals and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). SVOCs are chemicals commonly produced during the combustion process of fossil fuels which do not readily evaporate. A buried pocket of cyanide-contaminated, blue-colored fill, was found at the southern edge of the site. The SI indicated that groundwater at the site is contaminated with metals, but they are not likely to significantly impact the surface water of the Union Ship Canal.
Description of Proposed Cleanup Activities
To address the contamination present at the site, the DEC has prepared a cleanup plan called a Proposed Remedial Action Plan (PRAP). The proposed cleanup activities include:
- Sampling and analyzing the Filter Cake/Flue Ash pile and segregating that portion of the material which exhibits hazardous waste characteristics from the material which does not. The hazardous waste portion would be chemically stabilized on site before being disposed off site in a permitted landfill. As part of the remedial design, a determination would be made as to whether or not it would be feasible to further sort the filter cake/flue ash pile by lead contaminant concentrations. If so, a site-specific cleanup objective for just the flue ash/filter cake would be proposed which would be more cost effective but still protective of the public health and environment for the intended use of the site.
- Excavating and testing the estimated 100 cubic yards of cyanide-contaminated, blue-colored fill and properly disposing it at an off-site permitted landfill.
- Excavating the Debris Disposal pile and separating the debris from the soil/fill for disposal at a permitted solid waste facility. The soil/fill within the pile would be sampled and analyzed in accordance with a soil management plan. Soil/fill with contaminant concentrations below soil cleanup objectives for commercial site use would be staged on site and used as sub-grade backfill for site redevelopment. Soil/fill with contaminant concentrations in excess of the cleanup objectives would be disposed off site at a permitted landfill.
- Removing all other surface debris and reconstructing the site to the required elevations for redevelopment.
- Placing a demarcation layer of synthetic fabric between the existing fill and the clean soil cover material. The clean soil cover will be a minimum of twelve inches thick. In the areas of the site that will be covered by buildings or become roads, sidewalks or parking lots, the cover system will consist of a minimum of eight inches of pavement.
- Imposing an environmental easement on the property to restrict future use to commercial purposes.
- Developing a site management plan to address residual contamination, use restrictions, and maintenance of the soil cover.
Public Meeting
A public meeting will be held on February 17, 2009 at 7 PM at the Valley Community Center (93 Leddy Street, Buffalo, NY) to discuss the proposed cleanup plan for the Parcel 4 Site. At the meeting, DEC and DOH representatives will be available to answer questions regarding proposed cleanup activities.
Who Should I Call If I Have Questions About the Site?
Site related environmental questions:
Mr. David Locey, Project Manager
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
270 Michigan Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14203
(716) 851-7220
Site related health questions:
Mr. Matthew Forcucci, Public Health Specialist
NYS Department of Health
584 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14202
(716) 847-4385
Opportunities to Comment and Locations to View Project Documents
DEC welcomes your input on the proposed cleanup plan. You may review the PRAP, as well as other site-related documents at the locations listed below. DEC will accept comments on the plan at the public meeting and in writing until March 15, 2009 - the end of the 45 day comment period. Please send written comments to Mr. David Locey at DEC's Buffalo Office (address listed above).
To keep you informed, DEC has established two locations at which you can view site-related project documents. These locations include:
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
JP Dudley Branch
2010 South Park Avenue
Buffalo, New York 14220
(716) 823-1854
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
270 Michigan Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14203
(716) 851-7220
(Please call for an appointment.)
You may also view documents on the DEC website. Go to the Region 9 - Environmental Remediation Project Information page and look for the Hanna Furnace Parcel 4 entry under the Erie County heading.
