Rome Property with petroleum contamination undergoing cleanup
The site of a Rome gas station in the 1950s is finally getting an an environmental clean up.
Demolition of the 2,200-quare-foot, one-story concrete building at 1030 East Domnick St. took place last week, said Kimberly Rogers, chief of staff for Mayor Jeffrey Lanigan. The rest of the remediation work will likely continue through April, she said.
The city of Rome owns the 0.9-acre property, having foreclosed on it in 1995. Until recently, it leased it to Mike Jr’s Auto Repair, which has now moved to 517 West Dominick Street.
Mike Jr’s Auto Repair on E. Dominick St. in Rome, seen in this O-D file photo from 2022, has moved to a new location so the city-owned property it leased can undergo an environmental cleanup for contamination from the property’s use as a gas station and, later, auto repair shop since the 1950s.
The property was accepted into the New York State Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Restoration Program, which reimburses municipalities for the cost of investigating and cleaning up contaminated properties that they own so that the sites can be redeveloped.
A remedial investigation of the site in 2016 found soil, groundwater and soil vapor on the stie to be contaminated with the primary contaminants of concern volatile organic compounds and semi- volatile organic compounds. The contamination is believed to be the result of the property’s history as a gas station with underground storage tanks and subsequent use as an auto repair facility.
Three underground storage tanks were removed from the site in 1999.
The city signed a contract with Abscope Environmental, Inc. of Cazenovia, on Jan. 6 to perform the demolition and cleanup. Three companies submitted bids for the project, but Abscope’s was the lowest at $1.39 million.
The clean-up plan for the site calls for:
Demolition of the building.
The excavation and off-site storage of about 2,500 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil.
Follow-up testing of the soil and groundwater to see if the cleanup was effective.
Bringing in clean material for back fill.
Adhering to a health and safety plan, and community air monitoring plan during all activities that involve ground intrusion.
Using site cover wherever the soil fails to meet set standards for contamination. Site cover can be paved surface for parking, sidewalks and/or soil cover of a minimum of one foot with the top six inches of a high enough quality soil to allow plant growth.
The restriction of activities on the property after cleanup to ensure the effectiveness of the cleanup.
When the remediation work is done, an environmental easement will be placed on the property limiting it to commercial use.
More: Utica councilor apologizes for comment made to firefighters
More: Brookfield man arrested for New Hartford bank robbery
A final engineering report will also be prepared after the work is done. Once that report is done, DEC will issue a Certificate of Completion, which releases the municipality, in this case Rome, from environmental liability and allows the reuse of the property.
The city will have to wait for that certificate to take any further action on the property, Rogers noted when asked about the property’s future use.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Former gas station in Rome getting DEC-approved clean up