Several years of inactivity at the former Scotia Navy Depot is nearing an end.
Schenectady County officials recently announced the federal government started working on the pre-design state of environmental clean up of the approximately 60-acre property. The plan involves installing an underground permeable reactive barrier to stop chemicals from entering the Great Flats Aquifer, which is the main source of drinking water for county residents.
“The start of engineering work is very positive,” said Marty Finn, county legislator and chairman of the county’s Economic Development Committee, in a statement. “This project is not only critical to safeguarding our water supply, but will boost our economic development efforts in the Glenville Business and Technology Park and Schenectady County.”
Town Supervisor Christopher Koetzle said a timeline hasn’t been established for the cleanup, but he welcomed any progress. He’s hopeful for it to be completed in eight months to a year and is excited to begin redevelopment at the location.
“This has gone on much longer than we anticipated,” Koetzle said. “It has been on our strategic plan for years now … this is the fourth year.”
Koetzle added the site could house a new town Highway Department facility, but the town would only use a small portion of the site for such a purpose. He also envisioned a possible consolidated Department of Public Works facility with the county or other municipalities.
“The highway facility we have right now is very dated,” Koetzle said. “There is a lot of different ideas and I think any one of them we can easily support.”
In March 2010, the General Services Administration agreed to a state Department of Environmental Conservation Record of Decision outlining the environmental problem and a plan to fix it. In October 2011, GSA signed an agreement with DEC proposing a $3 to $4 million cleanup plan, which includes installing a zero valent iron permeable reactive barrier beneath the surface of the affected area to stop the chemical trichloroethylene, or TCE, plume from spreading.
“The barrier is not a ‘barrier’ to groundwater flow, but a ‘barrier’ to the contaminants present in the water,” Rick Georgeson, spokesman for DEC Region 4, previously said. “As contaminated groundwater flows through this (barrier) it contacts the zero valent iron and through a chemical reaction the contaminants are broken down to nontoxic end products.”
Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority Chairman previously said trucks were maintained and repaired at the site during the Vietnam War, which could have led to the contamination. Often, TCE is used in solvents for industrial purposes as a degreaser.
Most of the soil borings and other investigative work will be conducted within the 300 block of the former Depot where large National Grid overhead wires are located, according to county officials. Initial testing identifying the best location to install the barrier is expected to be completed by July.
This type of barrier has proved “very effective” in breaking down chemicals causing environmental issues and stopping contamination from spreading, county officials said.