cayuga groundwater contamination site

STATE ROUTE 326

The Cayuga County Groundwater Contamination site (“Site”) consists of a plume of contaminated groundwater from an unknown source(s). The suspected extent of the plume covers an area of approximately 3,050 acres or 4.8 square miles and falls within three townships, Aurelius, Fleming and Springport. The plume extends from the Village of Union Springs to the Auburn City limits, a distance of seven miles, and has approximately 120 homes within its boundaries. The Site is in an area consisting of residential properties intermingled with extensive farmland and patches of woodlands. The homes in the area use private wells for potable water supply and septic systems for sanitary waste water disposal. The County has installed a public water supply and the affected homes have access to it. Routine testing of the Village of Union Springs' municipal drinking water supply revealed low levels of cis-1,2,dichloroethylene (cis-1,2,DCE) and prompted referral to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Over 300 drinking water supplies have been sampled by the New York Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation and by the EPA. As a result of these sampling events, EPA determined that 51 residential wells are contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), primarily vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene (TCE) and cis-1,2,DCE, in concentrations above the Federal maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). Twenty-four of these drinking water supply wells are contaminated above EPA's Removal Action Levels (RALs) for vinyl chloride and/or cis-1,1,DCE of 2 parts per billion (ppb) and 400 ppb, respectively.

Hazardous Ranking Score

50 / 100

A score of 28.5 or higher qualifies a site for the Superfund National Priority List.

Regional Contact

Region 2
Phone: (877) 251-4575

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Timeline

Discovery
Site Inspection
Preliminary Assessment
Final Listing On NPL
Removal

Contaminants & Health Effects

      Carcinogen
      Endocrine Disrupter
      Neurotoxic
      Sensitiser
      Reproductive Toxin
      Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic
      VOC
      Mutagen

        Census

        White
        African American
        Asian
        American Indian and Alaska Native
        Native Hawaiian
        Other

        218

        People living
        within a 1 mile radius

        $66,110

        Average Income

        77

        Occupied homes

        Potentially Responsible Parties

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