The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday proposed adding part of a creek in Dutchess County to its Superfund list. It’s welcome news for at least one elected official whose municipality is impacted.
The EPA proposes adding the two-mile long tidal portion of Wappinger Creek to its Superfund National Priorities List of the country’s most hazardous waste sites. The portion of Wappinger Creek being proposed includes parts of the village of Wappingers Falls and the towns of Poughkeepsie and Wappinger. Elias Rodriguez is an EPA spokesman.
“So by this site being proposed and hopefully going final at some point, onto the Superfund list, it makes it eligible additional for additional federal resources and federal expertise so that we can help address the contamination, which is mainly mercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, also known as PAHs,” says Rodriguez.
The latter chemicals can cause cancer while mercury in sediment can build up in the tissue of fish and other wildlife and pose a threat to people who eat them. Exposure to mercury can damage people’s nervous systems and harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immune system.
For more than 180 years, an industrial park along the creek was used for textile dyeing, manufactured gas plant operations, metal plating, ammunition production, chemical manufacturing and other businesses. These industrial activities contaminated the creek and surrounding communities. There have been several investigations and cleanups within the industrial park, however, contamination adjacent to and downstream of the industrial park still presents a risk. Matt Alexander is mayor of one of the impacted areas, Wappingers Falls.
“The Village of Wappngers Falls has been working on issues of environmental contamination and the hard work of getting those areas remediated for many, many years,” says Alexander. “And this is just a great opportunity and we’re so happy that we’re doing this.”
Again, the EPA’s Rodriguez.
“Wappinger Creek is used for fishing and recreation by residents and visitors so addressing the contamination will go a long way to protecting public health and the environment,” Rodriguez says.
He says the impetus to list the creek came via a request from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. He says the state already has endeavored to clean up the site and industrial park. Mayor Alexander says continued cleanup of this lower portion of Wappinger Creek is important.
“This is our backyard. We use this environmental asset all the time, recreationally, and we enjoy the view shed that it gives us,” Alexander says. “And we look forward to it being cleaned up and even better.”
Meanwhile, Rodriguez says EPA usually updates its Superfund list in the spring and fall so the site, if approved, could be added in the fall or in spring 2017. He says if the site is approved, EPA would undertake a remedial investigation and feasibility study to help determine the nature and extent of the contamination. EPA has opened a 60-day comment period regarding the potential Superfund site listing. The comment period closes June 6.
