The Department of Environmental Conservation has fined the town of Bethlehem $15,000 for mercury and petroleum reporting and handling violations that occurred over the past two years.
However, Supervisor Jack Cunningham said the town only consented to the fine because it couldn’t prove that less than a pound of mercury had been discharged in a single spill at its water plant.
By paying the $15,000 and remaining compliant, the town does not have to pay an additional $60,000 civil penalty to the DEC, according to the state’s signed consent order, which stated the fine could have totaled $75,000.
`As soon as I was made aware of this situation, we did everything appropriate to mitigate the issue,` Cunningham said. `You don’t win anything by fighting this stuff.`
The town is now replacing all of its outdated mercury flow meters.
The DEC said three separate investigations took place at Bethlehem’s New Salem Road plant, spokeswoman Maureen Wren said in February.
The investigations dealt with two mercury spills, one that occurred on Jan. 18 of this year, another from July 2006, and the removal of an underground fuel-oil tank ` all in or around the town’s New Scotland plant.
The fuel tank was taken from the ground on town-owned property near the plant.
Cunningham questioned why the DEC suddenly announced Bethlehem was paying the fine when the incident had already been hashed out months ago.
`We don’t know why all of a sudden the DEC issued a release on this,` Cunningham said. `We have voluntarily replaced the meters. These flow meters are being used all across New York state, and the DEC has not required any of them to be replaced.`
Rick Georgeson, a DEC spokesman for Region 4, responded through Spotlight Newspapers, saying, `The consent order was just signed this week. It took a while to conduct the investigation.`
Cunningham emphasized that absolutely no contaminates reached the town’s water supply — not mercury or petroleum.
DEC officials agreed and said no mercury was found in the water supply but said they fined the town for not properly reporting the mercury spills. The town also did not properly dispose of an old fuel-oil tank near the plant on town-owned property, according to DEC Region 4 Director Gene Kelly.
`DEC Region 4 law enforcement staff worked diligently in following leads, interviewing witnesses and compiling the facts of this case,` Kelly said in a release. `The town recognized the continued risk posed by the mercury gauges and switches at the plant and agreed to replace all of them at a cost of $258,000 over the next year.`
Cunningham said the state’s estimated replacement cost was a `high-end estimate,` and that the replacements will likely cost less. The new flow meter will, however, be able to be used in the town’s eventual new water plant.
The town’s Clapper Road plant in Selkirk already has updated meters, he said.
The DEC said the replacement estimates came from the town’s commissioner of public works, and Georgeson said they have documentation from the town’s attorney.
The money for the fine and the new meters will come out of the water district budget, according to Cunningham, who reiterated that he could find no other municipalities being asked to replace their mercury flow meters.
`The DEC has gone into the pockets of Bethlehem taxpayers to finance their state budget,` Cunningham said. `If it were that important, wouldn’t the DEC be looking at all of these [mercury flow meters]?`
Georgeson said the DEC recovered 20 pounds of mercury `on site` while conducting its investigation and that the mercury, which is a hazardous waste, was disposed of in a solid waste receptacle instead of being properly disposed of.
Any discharge of mercury over 1 pound must be reported to the DEC, according to Georgeson.
Cunningham fired back, saying the consent order was `filled in inaccuracies,` and the 20 pounds of mercury refers to two jars containing the toxic metal, which were housed in a storage shed behind the water plant and not inside of the plant as the DEC contended.
He maintained that less than a pound of mercury spilled out of a flow meter onto the water plant floor.
`We finally conceded to the consent order and moved on because we couldn’t prove when the mercury was spilled and on the advice of counsel we conceded and paid the fine,` Cunningham said. `We would have ended up in front of a DEC judge over this.`
As for why the mercury was at the plant to begin with, Cunningham said that he asked `the guy who’s been there the longest, and he said it’s always been there, but we don’t know why.`
Cunningham also said that licensed hazardous waste removal crews properly disposed of the sealed containers of mercury and other contaminated items and that `they believed inaccurately that a mop was used to clean up mercury and was thrown away.`
The DEC stated in its consent order signed by the town that there was an estimated 1,000 pounds of mercury and mercury-contaminated debris involved with the incidents at the water plant.
The New York State Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation said exposure to high levels of mercury `can cause permanent damage to the nervous system and brain, kidneys and developing fetus. Mercury affects many different brain functions and a variety of symptoms may occur.`
Georgeson said a very small amount of mercury, .07 nanograms per liter, could contaminate a drinking water supply.
`The New York State Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation recommend that a trained professional, such as a hazardous waste contractor, do the cleanup whenever the amount of mercury spilled is greater than what is typically found in a fever thermometer or thermostat,` according to the department of health Web site. `In other words, if the amount of mercury spilled exceeds 3 grams, or about the size of a green pea, a trained professional should do the cleanup.`
Cunningham said the town did follow the recommendations of the DEC and Department of Health and that Bethlehem is in full compliance and all mercury has been removed from the site, and bids are being put out to replace the mercury flow meters.
The supervisor and the DEC both pointed out the town has been fully cooperative.
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