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Waste Site Reports: New York
NOAA trust species in New York include the anadromous blueback herring, alewife, American shad, and striped bass and the catadromous American eel. Marine and estuarine species include Atlantic menhaden, tautog, bluefish, hake, seabass, mummichog, banded killifish, and several species of flounder. Invertebrate resources include the American lobster, eastern oyster, bay scallop, and several species of crabs, shrimp, mussels, and clams. Marine mammals include the federally endangered fin whale, Northern right whale, and humpback whale. Beluga whales in the St. Lawrence Seaway are among the other cetaceans of concern to NOAA. Several pinnipeds inhabit Long Island Sound during winter and have been sighted in the New York Harbor area. Three federally endangered (Kemp's ridley, green, leatherback) and one threatened (loggerhead) sea turtle species utilize coastal areas of New York, to varying degrees.
Areas of Special Concern in New York
The NOAA RRC Program is working to protect and restore natural resources throughout New York. The Hudson River is of particular concern due to elevated concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which has resulted in EPA's designation of the lower 200 miles of river as the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site. For a period of approximately 30 years beginning in 1947, wastewater discharges containing significant quantities of PCBs flowed from two General Electric (GE) plants at Hudson Falls and Fort Edward into the waters and sediments of the Hudson River adjacent to the plants. From these areas the PCBs have spread down the entire river system through natural and human-directed perturbations. An estimated 15-20 metric tons of PCBs remain in the sediment of the Thompson Island Pool, the area upstream of the first dam below the two plant sites.
Elevated levels of PCBs have been detected in tissues of many species throughout the river. In 1976, because of PCB contamination, commercial striped bass harvests in the Hudson River were eliminated. Recreational fishing was banned in the Upper Hudson below Hudson Falls between 1976 and 1995, and it is currently limited to catch and release only along this stretch of the river. Fish in other areas of the Hudson River are subject to consumption advisories of varying degrees due to PCB contamination. The endangered shortnosed sturgeon, resident in the river, spawns in areas of contaminated sediments located immediately below the dam at Troy. PCB concentrations in fish in the Hudson River have historically been detected well above the 2 ppm tolerance level recommended by the Food and Drug Administration. Since 1983, PCB concentrations in fish in the main stem of the Hudson River have shown little evidence of decline, and in 1996 concentrations averaged 12 ppm for fish in the Upper Hudson River and 3 ppm in the Lower Hudson River.
The NOAA RRC program, working with EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), has been pivotal in efforts to ensure that Superfund remedial investigations at the site accurately characterize the extent and degree of contamination, including the fate and transport of PCBs, and potential threats to natural resources in the Hudson River. NOAA has worked closely with EPA and NYSDEC on evaluation and interpretation of data collected as part of the Reassessment Remedial Investigation (RRI) which EPA initiated in 1989. The NOAA CRC program assisted EPA in developing and implementing a field sampling plan for the RRI ecological assessment. The program conducted congener-specific PCB analysis on fish collected from multiple locations distributed over 170 miles of the Hudson River downstream of the GE facilities. Results from this study indicate that PCBs found in fish tissue throughout the study area originate predominantly from areas above the Thompson Island Dam and are consistent with the GE source. NOAA's interpretation of various Hudson River studies, in cooperation with NYSDEC, is playing an important role in EPA's ecological risk assessment and evaluation of remedial alternatives. NOAA RRC staff continues to work with EPA, the State of New York, DOI, and representatives of GE to help develop consensus on approaches for achieving the most protective remedy, assessing residual injury, and planning restoration.
Other areas of special concern in New York are:
- Long Island Sound because it provides spawning, nursery, and adult refuge habitat for a variety of NOAA trust resources and supports recreational and commercial fisheries. Hazardous waste sites of concern in this area are Mattiace Petrochemical Company, Li Tungsten Corporation, Applied Environmental Services, and Port Washington Landfill.
- At Applied Environmental Services site, the NOAA CRC program is continuing to work with EPA and co-trustees (New York and DOI) to ensure implementation of a comprehensive Superfund settlement including a protective remedy, restoration of valuable Spartina habitat in Hempstead Cove and Motts Cove, and off-site wetland enhancement.
- Groundwater contamination from Liberty Industrial Finishing discharges to Massepequa Creek upstream of South Oyster Bay. The lower creek and South Oyster Bay provide habitat for anadromous and catadromous fish. Marine and estuarine fish and invertebrate species also use the Bay for spawning, nurseries, and adult foraging. The Bay supports important commercial and recreational fisheries.
- Niagara River and surroundings include a number of highly toxic sites such as Love Canal, Hooker (102nd Street), Hooker Chemical S Area, Hooker Hyde Park, and DuPont Necco.
- St. Lawrence River is of special concern because of PCB contamination. Beluga whales are potentially threatened from the consumption of PCB-contaminated American eels. Sites contributing to PCB loadings are General Motors, ALCOA Aggregation site, and Reynolds Metal Company.
Reports Not Yet Available Online
- Jones Sanitation (Reviewed 1987); CERCLIS No. = NYD980534556
- Rowe Industries Ground Water Contamination (Reviewed 1987); CERCLIS No. = NYD981486954
Waste Site Reports
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- NY: Action Anodizing (Reviewed 1989); CERCLIS No. = NYD072366453
(Document format: PDF, size: 21.9 K)
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- NY: Diaz Chemical (Reviewed 2004); CERCLIS No. = NYD067532580
(Document format: PDF, size: 14.6 K)
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- NY: Peter Cooper (Reviewed 1999); CERCLIS No. = NYD980530265
(Document format: PDF, size: 54.8 K)
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- NY: Quanta Resources (Reviewed 2004); CERCLIS No.= NJD000606442
(Document format: PDF, size: 467.2 K)
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- NY: Sidney Landfill (Reviewed 1989); CERCLIS No. = NYD980507677
(Document format: PDF, size: 19.8 K)
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Other pages in this series
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