Environment
The NYSDEC and AR agreement on plan for cleaning up its Hastings-on-Hudson waterfront property and Hudson River sediments
A view of the Hudson River and the beautiful Palisades beyond from One River Street.
NYSDEC and Atlantic Richfield sign order outlining clean-up of waterfront and Hudson River sediments
Atlantic Richfield Company (AR) has entered into a consent order with the NYSDEC to clean up soils and Hudson River sediment at the former Anaconda Wire & Cable Company site on the waterfront in Hastings-on-Hudson.
Atlantic Richfield Company released this statement. "This consent order is a major step forward in our progress on this site. For the last several years, Atlantic Richfield has been working closely with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), Village officials, and representatives from The Riverkeeper to develop a comprehensive cleanup plan for this complex site that is protective of the community and will address historic impacts from the former Anaconda Wire & Cable manufacturing plant. As the process moves forward, AR will work to design and implement a final remedy in coordination with NYSDEC that will lay the ground work for Atlantic Richfield's portion of the One River Street property to be returned to productive use for the benefit of the community. Atlantic Richfield looks forward to continuing our work to deliver a successful project on the Hastings-on-Hudson waterfront."
Anaconda manufacturing operations released polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and metals into the soil, groundwater and Hudson River sediment at the site during World War II. In accordance with U.S. Navy specifications, PCBs were used to coat electrical cable deployed on warships as a fire prevention measure. Anaconda closed the manufacturing plant in 1976. AR acquired Anaconda in 1977.
The consent order requires AR to complete the design and implement the cleanup plan. The remedy for the site includes cleaning up on-site soil areas west of the railroad tracks and specifies the remedy for off-site impacts which are primarily sediments in the Hudson River adjacent to the site. The remedy calls for the design and construction of:
- a sheet pile wall to contain PCBs and enable them to be recovered from river sediment and fill areas (a mitigation plan for habitat impacts associated with the river remedy will be included)
- potential sediment dredging, backfilling and capping in the Hudson River;
- stabilization of the existing shoreline in areas that do not require containment of PCBs;
- groundwater treatment, including operation of a system for management of PCBs in the northwest corner of the site;
- impacted soil excavations on the site
- a soil cover system on the site
AR will pay for the cleanup and, under the consent order, also has paid for the State's past response costs. Design and remediation is expected to take approximately six years.
Atlantic Richfield Company has also sponsored the creation of an electronic archive of public documents on the Web site for the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson. You can find a complete listing of those documents below.