TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — National Grid will soon begin contamination cleanup at a former manufactured gas plant site in Troy, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced on Wednesday. Work is reportedly expected to take about eight months.
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The site is located on Water Street, along the east side of the Hudson River between the Wynants Kill and the New York Route 378 bridge, also known as the Menands Bridge. According to the DEC, the site was home to iron and steel producing industries as early as 1847, followed by manufactured gas plant operations until the 1950s.
Later, from 1957 to 1873, King Fuels owned a bulk petroleum terminal and distribution center at the site, DEC said. The Troy Local Development Corporation reportedly purchased most of the property in 2006.
According to the department, the gas manufacturing process involved the heating of coal or petroleum products to make a gas mixture that was then distributed through a local pipeline network for heating, cooking and lighting. At various stages during the process, coal tar would condense out of the gas and be discharged to the subsurface.
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DEC said the Troy site’s primary contaminants of concern include benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylene (BTEX), as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. An investigation of groundwater and soil at the location reportedly showed elevated concentrations of BTEX contaminants…