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DEC: Due to planned development, review of former Big Flats fertilizer site is warranted
A recently-formed coalition of property owners, business operators and residents known as Big Flats Defenders sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, demanding cleanup of the property at 83 Hammond St. in the hamlet of Big Flats be made a top priority.
The group is working in conjunction with Ithaca-based environmental research firm Toxics Targeting, claiming documents from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicate nitrite fertilizer and the chlorinated pesticide Dieldrin were reportedly dumped for decades at the factory site into an on-site "lagoon" and "over the bank."
Despite studies, contamination concerns were never fully addressed, the letter stated.
However, DEC said its Division of Environmental Remediation originally investigated the Agway Facility site in the 1980s, and did not find evidence of hazardous waste at the property which warranted listing the property on the Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites.
"In 2020, DEC’s Spill Response Program, with consultation from the Chemung County and New York State health departments, sampled groundwater wells at the facility, and off-site drinking water wells, to confirm the determinations made in the 1980s," the agency said in a statement. "Based on these results, no additional investigation was necessary at that time, as there was a lack of potential public health exposure pathways."
A former Agway fertilizer plant on Hammond Street in Big Flats is the target of a new citizen's group called Big Flats Defenders, which claimed the site was never remediated despite chemical contamination that has infiltrated water supplies.
(Photo: Jeff Murray / Elmira Star-Gazette)
But there are now plans in the works to build a new subdivision — Soaring Heights Landing Family Housing — at that location after the town in January was awarded more than $1.3 million through Empire State Development to support the project.
The site will feature affordable family housing units which will be owned and operated by a local non-profit housing agency, according to the project description.
With most local approvals in place for that project, it is appropriate to give the Agway site another look, DEC said.
"In light of the site’s historical background and the proposal to change the former facility’s use, DEC will reach out to this developer to ensure any additional investigations or actions on the site are undertaken if issues are identified to protect public health and the environment," the agency said.
That's good news, according to Big Flats Defenders coordinator Shannon Keach, but she is still skeptical.
"Members of Big Flats Defenders and I look forward to meeting with the governor and DEC at their earliest convenience to find out how our request to safeguard public health and the environment in our community will be achieved," Keach said.
"With all due respect, empty promises, lame excuses, half-way measures and inadequate cleanup proposals are totally unacceptable and will result in even greater citizen action to hold Gov. Hochul strictly accountable for enforcing all state laws in my hometown," she added.
DEC already reached out to the developer and Big Flats officials to confirm the town will require a comprehensive Phase I and Phase II environmental investigation prior to final approval of the project, the agency said.
"DEC is directly communicating with the developer to ensure they are aware of their potential responsibilities if any contamination is discovered," the statement said.