SamPratt.com: Accidents & Emergencies

63 entries categorized "Accidents & Emergencies"

August 23, 2012

Health official: No, we’re not re-evaluating

Image from CBS6 Albany video

At the Tuesday meeting of the Columbia County Board Supervisors’ Public Safety Committee, a top emergency management official stated that “Based on last week's meeting [in West Ghent] I believe the State is reevaluating that decision” not to do further testing for dioxins and furans.

However, that now appears to be off the table again—as far as the State goes.

Two separate residents of Ghent have each received a version of the following email from a NYS Department of Health official, in response to their questions about whether the State was indeed re-evaluating its decision:

From: Joseph P. Crua <[email protected]>
Cc: Keith Goertz <[email protected]>

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the TCI fire in the Town of Ghent, Columbia County. As we stated previously, because all of the tests determined that PCBs and other contaminants are not present or present at low levels, no testing for dioxins or furans is necessary. Detectable levels of PCBs form the basis to determine the need to conduct additional tests for other potentially hazardous substances. Also, site information indicates the fire involved primarily containers of petroleum-based oil. Most of the material that burned appears to have contained no or low levels of PCBs, as confirmed by the absence of detectable levels of PCBs in 32 soot wipe samples collected near the fire and in the surrounding community. Therefore, the formation of extensive or high levels of dioxins and furans is unlikely. Any dioxins and furans formed by this fire are likely to be at the levels that would be found in many kinds of fires and do not warrant additional testing.

Regards

Joseph Crua

Joseph P. Crua, MPH
Public Health Specialist IV
Chief, Metro Section
Bureau of Environmental Exposure Investigation
New York State Department of Health
547 River Street, Room 300
Troy, New York 12180-2216
Phone: (518) 402-7880

As noted here before, on the Thursday afternoon when the TCI inferno was only just dying down, officials stated that dioxin testing was expected back in “24 hours.”

Late on Friday, it was announced that those tests had not even begun—but would start on Monday... after an anticipated downpour. But on that Monday night, it was announced that the tests were called off and had been deemed unnecessary.

in Accidents & Emergencies, Health, Towns | Ghent | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

1986: Was Ghent misled about PCBs at TCI?

Click to enlarge 1986 TCI letter

Late ’80s paperwork obtained by this website raises questions about when and how TCI of NY became a processor of PCBs. Company letters, official Town of Ghent correspondence, and media reports dating from 1986-1989 indicate that either TCI’s plans changed, or Town officials were mistaken about the company’s real intentions.

On September 3rd, 1986, David Rivenburgh of Falls Road Industrial Park, Inc. applied for two building permits related to land his corporation was acquiring from William Wiegelt. Rivenburgh indicated that one of the buildings planned for the site would be bought by TCI Incorporated of Hudson. Accompanied by a $50 check, his application didn’t mention the use of PCBs, but alluded to handling “electronic transmission and distribution equipment.”

Plainly, this language set off alarm bells with Ghent Planning Board chairman John Winkler. He wrote back on September 15th asking Rivenburgh to produce a letter from TCI Inc. The letter, Winkler said, should explain among other things “what waste products are produced,” “how is waste matter disposed,” and whether the company deals with “any toxic materials, particularly PCB’s.”

Within four days, David Laskin of TCI Incorporated wrote to Winkler, affirming that:

“We will not accept any material that has been manufactured as Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) equipment.

Laskin then goes onto reassure the Town:

“Any oil-filled electrical equipment we will handle will be tested and drained prior to being received at our operation. The testing is to insure that there is no more than trace amounts (.05% maximum) of Plycholorianted Biphenyls that may have entered this equipment through servicing or repair through the years.” [emphases added]

Later correspondence and official comments suggests that either Laskin was not adequately clear in that last sentence, or the Town failed to grasp a nod-and-a-wink message buried within the letter’s technical language.

Laskin also wrote to the Planning Board chair that its “proposed building is large enough that we do not anticipate a need for any outside storage.” Photographs of the site, as well as published accounts, show that materials were stored outside the building. Indeed, some have suggested that the impact of the fire might have been worse had more transformers and other materials been stored inside instead of out.

Indications that the Town of Ghent was starting to feel a bit bamboozled emerge from documents and news reports from 1988-89, when TCI applied to the State to add an incinerator to its Ghent facility. That incinerator plan was opposed by neighbors such as Marlene and Jerry Brody of Gallagher’s Stud, as well as by the Town. Legal wrangling dragged into the early ’90s, but the incinerator never came to pass.

The Brodys

The Town of Ghent’s legal correspondence firmly reiterates that TCI’s original application for a local use permit did not include the handling of “PCB equipment,” and that any other equipment would be drained “to insure there were no PCBs. On September 22nd, 1989, Town attorney Ted Guterman, (who is still serving in that capacity today) forwarded the Town’s Position Statement on the project to Planning Board chair Winkler:

“When TCI initially applied for a use permit in 1986... It was specifically indicated that the process would not include nor would TCI accept any material that has been manufactured as PCB equipment. It was further indicated that any oil filled electrical equipment would be tested and drained prior to being received at the premises in order to insure that there were no PCBs.”

Guterman’s understanding was echoed in a December 13th, 1989 article in the T-U, which quoted Brody attorney Jason Shaw as saying that “TCI was not forthcoming about the presence of PCBs when it applied three years ago to open its operation.” He added that “I don't think TCI was up-front about the fact that there would be toxic substances at the facility... They did not clarify the definition they used in an attempt to muddy the issue.”

In the same article, Guterman recalled “Laskin telling the Planning Board there would be no PCBs on the property.” Laskin countered that the Board “ knew we'd be handling the material and the amount would be miniscule... I can't remember how many hours we spent going over this.”

The Position Statement forwarded by Guterman also flagged the Town’s concern that TCI’s activities

“not result in any toxic waste generated or disposed of on the property or through the air, including PCBs. It should be noted that the Town of Ghent Zoning Ordinance contains a provision specifically prohibiting storage collection, retention or utilization of toxic waste or by-products or other similar toxic chemicals in any district.”

23 years later, the Town experienced what many residents now view as an uncontrolled incineration of materials which may never be authoritatively inventoried.

Whoever one chooses to believe as to TCI’s original intent, clearly PCBs at some point began passing through the facility in both lower and higher concentrations than 50 parts per million.

For example, as reported previously at this site, a March 2012 TCI manifest shows roughly 2,000 pounds (901 kilos) of liquid PCBs with a concentration of 50-499 ppm (parts per million), along with 350 pounds of solid PCB debris, was shipped from TCI in Ghent to their sister company in Alabama. The Albany Times-Union for its part has obtained records “that showed some 50,000 pounds of PCB-containing materials and oils moving from the Ghent complex this year.”

It remains to be seen if, when and how TCI modified its original application materials to secure permission for such use—or if the Town let this unintended use slide. With TCI saying it plans to rebuild, and many residents calling for a full site plan review if it really does, it becomes all the more essential to determine what precisely the company has been permitted to do locally.

in Accidents & Emergencies, Counties | Columbia, Environment, Health, Local History, Planning & Land Use | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

August 21, 2012

Safety supes endorse reverse 911

The Public Safety Committee of the Columbia County Supervisors forwarded a resolution to the full Board tonight which recommends that the County contract with Code Red, a commercial vendor of reverse 911 services. A link to how one Texas county has implemented Code Red can be found here.

The recommendation was based upon a review by Lieutenant County Sheriff Thomas (Tom) Lanphear, and will be voted upon at a special meeting on Monday at 6:30 called by Board Chair Pat Grattan. The Safety committee session tonight was rescheduled from its usual monthly time because of last Thursday’s community meeting at the West Ghent Fire House to discuss the recent inferno at TCI of NY, a PCB waste processor.

This time, nowhere near the 300 people who turned out for last week’s meeting in Ghent were present at 401 State Street in Hudson—though not for a lack of public interest, but for a lack of public awareness. (Interestingly, three Albany network TV stations evidently were well aware of it, arriving early and eagerly interviewing attendees about their impressions.)

The committee is chaired by Supervisor Roy Brown, and includes Board members McDonald, Bassin, Hughes, Murrell, Nayer and Porreca. Several other County supervisors were in attendance, including Ellen Thurston and Sarah Sterling from Hudson, and Claverack’s Robin Andrews—the lone County supervisor to attend last Thursday’s packed meeting in Ghent.

Considering what transpired later, the meeting started on a peculiar note, with Commitee Chair Brown stating that “We’re not having any sort of a TCI review [or] update tonight.” In spite of this statement, neither the audience nor the TV crews budged, and their patience was soon rewarded with a lengthy discussion of the TCI fire and what to do about any future emergencies of this scale.

Fire coordinator Don Howe began by noting that there had been roughly a dozen official meetings about the TCI fire.

Supervisor William (Billy) Hughes of Hudson chimed in with several relatively innocuous questions about the TCI fire, including “who we had knocking on doors” to alert residents while a separate crime investigation was in progress.

County Sheriff Harrison noted that State Police were assigned to help alert close neighbors of the fire, but that “the decision was made to have some people stay in their houses” given that a search for five home invaders was ongoing nearby.

A County Emergency Management official indicated that the County would be conducting an internal “critique” for the Committee on how manpower was assigned during these concurrent emergencies, and recommending commendations for several people “who are not county employees but are affiliated with other agencies.”

Hughes attempted to quiz County officials about why Massachusetts conducted dioxin testing, but New York State did not, asking “How come we didn't?”

Harrison responded that on “the night of the fire, before I even left my house, I called the State because I knew they were part of our LEPC [emergency planning protocols]. I knew that the materials inside would warrant a State response. I requested that the State Office of Emergency Management respond… We had the Regional Director and the Director for the whole state on the scene within an hour. I requested Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health assistance, as well as the County DOH. In a nutshell, we really asked the experts on what we should be sampling for, how it should be done, and the frequency we should be sampling.” But Harrison also conceded to Hughes that “I know that is not really what you‘re looking for.”

Seeking clarification, Hughes asked if the decision to not sample for dioxin was the State’s call. Harrison indicated that “We requested the PCB sampling, and additional testing for PCBs, and for dioxin. They took that back and decided they didn't need to do it.” But he added that “Based on last week's meeting” (in West Ghent) “I believe the State is reevaluating that decision.”

Hughes then asked “what should our agriculture do as a result” of the fire, referring to “the crops and things... Should those things be disposed of?” Hughes said he had heard “contradictory” stories that pollutants “can be washed off and eaten,” or not. William (Bill) Black of the County Emergency Managemnt office referred Hughes to information “put out in writing” and “on the [State] DOH website on what to do,” adding that while “I don’t have that information at my fingertips, we have to rely on what Ag & Markets has provided.”

Greenport Supervisor John Porreca sought to widen the conversation by urging that “We need to look at all of Columbia County” in terms of what various businesses have on site in terms of hazardous materials. Porreca argued that such inventories should be computerized, “so that they are at our fingertips whenever [firefighters] go to a site.”

Black agreed, but added that while “companies have to report by Federal law, there are no teeth in the law. A facility could be right here in Hudson—I could see the propane tanks, the anhydrous ammonia, and tell them they have to report it—but there's nothing I can do to make them.” Black cited the Federal Right to Know Law requiring companies which store or handle hazardous materials to report what they have, if they “have reportable quantities” but again noted that “I can't enforce it, the Sherriff can't enforce it, the State Police can't enforce it... It's an old law that needs to be updated.” Porreca added that employees deserve to have access to such information as well.

Talk then turned to the availabilty of foam trucks, with Hughes speculating that companies which may need require large amounts of foam to control a fire at their facilities ought to foot the bill for that capability. Black jumped in to say that in the TCI fire, “We never ran out of foam. We had enough foam. The County has 300-gallons of foam storage, which when mixed at 3%, that's 29,000 gallons.” Black said that “in addition to what Stratton Air Force Base brought” to the TCI scene, “That was able to put out what we needed to.” But the availability of foam proved to be something of a non-issue, Black indicated, because “At the height of the fire, it wasn't feasible [to] get close enough to use it.”

Brown then turned the conversation to what he termed “some misinformation out there that they [the Emergency Management folks] blew it... They didn't blow it,” Brown argued, saying that if anything blame for the way the TCI inferno was handled should fall on political leaders. “We Supervisors didn't provide them with the tools to do their job. They did what they could, within their powers. Had we given them the tools, nobody would have pointed the fingers at them.”

Several supervisors chimed in at this point to say that the first responders should be thanked, and the County Board should be the ones saying “we blew it.” Hughes said: “I think everybody on the board should say it.”

The discussion now turned to the details of how Columbia County should institute a reverse 911 or other emergency notification service to cover future emergences. Lieutenant Lamphear then handled the bulk of the remaining questions, having spent a great deal of the past 20 days researching the County’s options along with his colleague Rob Lopez. A certain amount of media embarrassment has resulted from the fact that Rensselaer and Berkshire County managed to notify thousands of downwind neighbors of the need to stay inside, close windows, and turn off air conditioners, but Columbia County did not, and the Committee seemed anxious to get the County up to speed.

Much of the remaining discussion revolved around the pros and cons of NYAlert.com, a free online emergency system maintained by the State, versus various commercial alternatives. Lanphear noted several times that NYAlert’s protocols “can be cumbersome,” especially in terms of data entry, as well as confusing to less technically-oriented users.

Stockport Supervisor Matt Murrell urged that any system be “user friendly,” and embrace people “without computers or cell phones.” Murrell said that “ I can't tell you how many people in my town have said they don't have a computer, they don't watch TV, they don't read the papers, or they don't listen to the radio.”

Concerning fees and staff time, another Supervisor (who was both hard to identify and to hear, since half the Committee had its back to the audience and none of the available microphones were being employed) argued that “Something as important as this should not be guided by cost.” Andrews quizzed Lanphear about mapping options to ensure that correct addresses be on file in a County where ZIP codes often don’t correspond town names, and he said that Code Red can handle that task better than NYAlerts.

Lanphear ultimately recommended that the Supervisors go with a commercial service called Code Red, as it is less complicated to set up, has 24/7/365 staffing, offers immediate feedback and action, and already has 29,000 landline phone numbers of Columbia County residents in its database. Residents who want to offer their cell phones, VOIP lines, or alternative numbers also would be able to do so with Code Red. He also noted that since it is a no-cost, State-run service, the County could continue also to work with NYAlerts as a secondary, back-up notification system while using Code Red as its primary means of getting the word out about major emergencies. Lanphear noted that in the case of Hurricane Irene, Code Red was able to get a system up for White Plains “in an hour.” He advised that the system should be used sparingly, saying that “we don't want the public to be inundated with calls. This would be for states of emergency and major fires... We're not going to be sending out that there's a house fire, except maybe in that small area.”

Some discussion occurred about outreach to State legislators and Federal representatives about grant opportunities and other funding to defray the cost, but it was again affirmed that cost should not be an object in this case.

Supervisor Brown then called for a motion to recommend that the full Board authorize Columbia County 911 “to purchase and implement a system for emergency notifications,” and to “establish policies and procedures” based on the research and recommendations of Lanphear and Black. The motion carried unanimously, considering “the magnitude of this,” with the recommendation to be voted on per Grattan’s suggestion at a full, special Board next Monday. The hope was expressed that this could be moved forward in time to promote the availability of a new reverse 911 service at the upcoming Columbia County Fair.

The meeting then adjourned, with the Albany TV crews descending en masse to interview audience members—whose presence was not acknowledged during the meeting, and who were not invited to speak or ask questions. Reports by YNN, WTEN (10) and WNYT (13) are here, here and here.

Cancer expert discusses health risks of burning PCBs

In the 15-minute video above, renowned cancer expert Dr. Mitchell L. Gaynor discusses the science and health risks associated with the burning of PCBs.

Speaking at his Columbia County home, Dr. Gaynor first reviews the fundamentals of environmental carcinogenesis: how environmental exposures contribute to cancer. He then discusses how the uncontrolled incineration of PCBs leads to the formation of even more toxic dioxins and furans.

The former Medical Director at the Weill-Cornell Medical Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Gaynor proceeds to explain why he has found the official reassurances and limited testing done to assess the risks of TCI of NY’s recent inferno in Ghent to be inadequate thus far.

The founder and president of Gaynor Integrative Oncology, Dr. Gaynor’s extensive resumé includes four books, and countless appearances in national media, from Good Morning America to Martha Stewart to Newsweek. He has also published numerous “studies on oncology and the effects of environmental toxins on health in peer review journals such as The American Journal of Clinical Oncology and The Proceedings of the American Society for Clinical Oncology.

He has been honored for his environmental advocacy by the New York State Assembly—whose Committee on Environmental Conservation oversees the work of some of the officials responsible for the testing which is called into question in this video.

August 20, 2012

Radical leftist newspaper covers TCI fire

Ralph Gardner, Jr., who has house near Ghent, has an excellent column today in that notorious left-wing publication, The Wall Street Journal, about the August 1st TCI inferno.

In his usual fluid and droll prose, Ralph likens the official reassurances about the TCI fire to those issued by EPA and NYC after 9/11—and also to the plot of a Don Delillo novel (such as White Noise, whose Airborne Toxic Event many immediately thought of when the PCB handler’s plant exploded).

Meanwhile, The Albany Times Union’s James Odato reports that EPA in Massachusetts performed some of the testing across the Berkshire County line that New York State officials have been refusing to do here in Columbia County.

NYS DEC spokesperson Charsleissa King even goes so far as to suggest that samples taken in the Berkshires are adequate justification for not doing the same in the neighborhood of the fire.

Perhaps Ms. King needs to be reminded that this inferno took place in Ghent, New York, not Pittsfield, Massachusetts... Or that National Weather data shows thawinds were less than 1 mph from the start of the fire around 10 pm until dawn, meaning that the most intense impacts would likely occur locally, not across the border.

This makes it all the more eyebrow-raising that Berkshire and Rensselaer counties got timely notifications to close their windows, turn off air conditioners, and stay inside, while Columbians did not. (Maybe that name has DEC thinking we’re a Third World country?)

More likely, the State just doesn't want to know, and doesn't want to spend the money to test properly—even when they can charge it back to TCI... or especially when they can do so. DEC Region 4 has consistently been protective of corporate interests in our region for the past few decades, regularly taking the side of mining interests, coal-burners, tire-burners, and now waste handlers.

Firefighter speaks out about TCI

In the wake of August 1st’s inferno at TCI of NY, longtime Churchtown firefighter Nathan Chess has circulated the following email message, which is reproduced below by permission.

Chess writes that “it is with great trepidation that I push the send key with this message, but the mushrooming of this situation appears to be getting worse. And I care too much for my brother and sister responders to hold back any more.” He expresses his ongoing concerns about the health and safety of his fellow First Responders, noting that “We were only minutes away from bagpipes and flag-draped coffins.”

PCB testing is only part of the picture. What about tests for dioxins and furans—which on a toxicity level make PCBs look like lemonade?

From a cursory review of PCB incineration, the temperatures required are in the range 1000ºC with a extremely technical process to insure the complete breakdown of the PCBs without the subsequent creation of dioxins (a/k/a Agent Orange) and other highly toxic substances, I admit that my research is based on a quick skim of of highly technical information. But I am sure there are others within our community that are better educated on these procedures.

Additionally, as of this date it appears that no baseline testing have been done on the responders, command personal, EMS and other who where in close proximity to both the fire and plume for close to three hours. Thankfully, the majority of responders (including myself) were kept at what appears to be a safe distance from the incident. But as we have learned the hard way in such situations, distance does not ensure safety.

From my understanding this testing and comparison work would fall under the purview of the New York State Occupational Health Clinic Network, but I have seen no mention of any actions taken. No doubt it would also be their responsibility to have an ongoing procedure to monitor the workers currently involved in any remediation work.

And where is the Town of Ghent? [There’s] lots of praise for the bravery of the first responders, but sorry to be crude but action talks and we know what walks. It's good to see that one of the supervisors had the time to update his Facebook page with a posting that truly dealt with the ongoing situation—not!

And while I am on this point, it is only based on sheer luck that a serious loss of life was avoided. It was only based on basic “off the cuff” comment by the company’s “keyholder” that the responding units were advised that there was a substantial amount of solid sodium stored in the plant. This chemical is used as part of alternative treatment of low level PCB (< than 50ppm). But when exposed it creates an exothermic reaction and produces hydrogen gas (i.e.: Kaboom!)

We were only minutes away from bagpipes and flag-draped coffins.

I would also like to make perfectly clear that these comments and opinions are strictly my own and in no way represent my fire company or that any commanders, coordinators, supervisors and the many brave and dedicated responders, members, dispatchers, law enforcement, EMS and others who whose participation and selflessness make the Columbia County emergency services organization one of the best...

I have always taken great pride and satisfaction from my work with all of these individuals and organisations in the state and on par with any in the country.

But I feel it is my responsibility to express my beliefs, perceptions and and reactions to this event. Whatever the consequences, if it saves one life or prevents any injuries, it will be well worth it.

NATHAN CHESS
1st Lieutenant
Churchtown Fire Company

August 17, 2012

Eyewitness account of the TCI meeting

Chris Bishop of Old Ghent Realty shares his rough notes of last night’s meeting, which he descibed as “wild, very emotional and properly combative.” He adds that “the audience was much more eloquent than these notes”:

Both DEC and Homeland Security had outside contractors collect test samples.
Bill Black stated that Albany had two foam units—one was required to stay at the airport, the other was out of service. They had to bring foam trucks from Stratton AFB and Rennsalaer. (It was ironic to have the speakers set up in front of a dinky trailer with a hand painted sign reading Columbia County Foam Response Unit.)
The Homeland Security reps stated their contractors were doing test samples in the early morning, VOC and particulate at TCI and downwind, at approximately 4 am.
The Fire Dept. Coordinator said “we pretty much let it burn.”
Thomas Lanphear stated that TCI would comply with [a] regulation every March to list what was at the site the year before.
Brian Hemlock of TCI didn’t show up, even though he was on the program. Basically all restraint ended once that was announced.
Some of the eloquent audience members, in brief, and in rough order of appearance, said:
Zachary Pesce insisted the DEC and the Department of Health spend the money to do the testing they should have been doing since that night.
Howard Brandston spoke about how in general, environmental tests are done to get the results the administration wants.
James Wilcox said that testing needed to restore confidence in the county's agriculture.
Gianni Ortiz said a map of the plume exists, but is not public. DEC admits to having it but doesn't know the source. She referenced Dr. Chris Walchik as to importance of certain aspects of wind direction—winds aloft and the wind profile at sunrise as the accumulation during the night disperses with the first winds of morning.
Victor Mendolia asked why couldn’t there be low-tech warnings to the populace—fire alarms, etc.
Koethi Zan cited the need for dioxin tests, asking for written details of clean-up procedures. This evokes a response from the DEC that they will set up a specific section of their website to the TCI fire.
Paige Smith Orloff questioned the 7-and-a-1/2 mile radius, iterating how this is a county-wide crisis, not just Ghent.
At this point the Columbia County Hazmat director came up to the mic, and states he saw a plume map from the National Weather Service. He detailed the decontamination procedures for the responders: soap and water being typical for most contaminations.
An audience member questioned rebuilding TCI, saying Columbia County is not equipped to deal with a major industrial fire.
Ed Simonson asked why sodium was in that building, and for a list of procedures followed in testing analysis.
Jim Orell (Morell?) suggested TCI could be indicted for reckless endangerment.
Another audience member pointed out that no one from the Ghent Town Board was at the meeting, and the only County Supervisor at the meeting was Robin Andrews—emphasizing hat this is a County issue, and that the local towns can't supervise these companies properly.
Charles Ballard asked where money would come from to clean the site. He commended the Homeland Security office for not being evasive on the phone. He suggested thepublic should receive the same blood tests for toxins as responders. And he about a January fire at TCI, and why that didn't raise red flags.
The Health Department admitted that they were moving offices at the time of the fire and after, and were not equipped to handle many public calls regarding crisis.
Someone asked how many of these type of recycling facilities are located in New York.
Fran Martino of the Greater Stockport Watershed asked for thorough testing of water in nearby Widow's Creek, which flows into the Claverack, into the Stockport and eventually the Hudson River.
Tim Loughner, a firefighter at the scene, felt the department should have had more up to date info on what was at TCI.

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No-shows

According to several attendees, TCI was not the only presence missing from Thursday night’s packed meeting. No members of the Ghent Town Board were spotted by a pair of local eyes, and only Robin Andrews of Claverack was positively ID’d among the 24 members of the County Board of Supervisors. (The Ghent Board’a monthly meeting was scheduled at the same time, but many assumed it would be postponed that given the gravity of the TCI situation.) If you saw any others, or have any thoughts on the meeting, please send an email to: [email protected]

UPDATE: The Register’s report by John Mason is now online in addition to The Times-Union article discussed in the previous item.

NOTE: A great deal of material is flowing in—keep your tips and stories coming—but I have commitments on Friday which may delay further updates somewhat... Check back soon.

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August 16, 2012

Scientist: TCI tests “invalid,” untrustworthy

Dr. David Carpenter

In an unusually balanced and well-researched Register-Star article, the director of the University of Albany’s School of Public Health’s Institute for Health and Environment questions the validity of State tests which claim no pollution impacts from the towering TCI inferno on August 1st and 2nd.

Reporter John Mason (who cut his teeth on pollution issues while reporting on the St. Lawrence Cement proposal) cites UAlbany’s Dr. David Carpenter as saying that he “does not trust the results because they relied on Aroclor tests, which he said are not appropriate.” Dr. Carpenter, who also runs an independent PCB testing lab, states that

“I don’t trust (the DEC testing) at all... I would say it’s invalid. These analyses are cheap and relatively fast. The congener tests are expensive, but this is not going to tell you anything. I would recommend a much more detailed analysis of the soot.”

Mason’s article also gives the State plenty of opportunity to defend itself. This is the type of in-depth reporting which can really earn a local paper the trust of readers, and is all too rare in the Register’s pages. This site has heard through separate channels that the Register is in possession of one or more samples of debris collected at a neighboring property, and may be in the process of having it analyzed.

Dr. Carpenter’s assessment is particularly timely in light of tonight’s 6:30 meeting at the West Ghent Fire Company (near the entrance to the Commerce Park off Route 9H, about a half-mile south of Kozel’s, which unfortunately I cannot attend due to a prior obligation). The meeting was organized by State Assembly member Didi Barrett, who expects all or most of the involved officials and agencies to be in attendance.

August 13, 2012

Video interview: TCI neighbors speak out

Working with videographer and filmmaker David McDonald, this site has produced a video interview with two of TCI of NY’s closest neighbors, Dmitri and Barbara Bassakalis. The couple evacuated their house on the night of August 1st, then stayed up all night observing the fire from a safe distance—all the while hoping they would have a house to which to return.

Some key revelations from their interview last Wednesday include:

According to the couple, a representative of the NYS State Department of Environmental Conservation who visited their site (after Mr. Bassakalis appeared on Albany TV) declined to take a sample of the countless black, oily objects which fell on their deck, cars, lawn and into their pool.

Instead, the couple says they were told not to worry about the many black objects, and told to simply wash it away. (Note: Their house relies on well water.)

Mr. Bassakalis, who also works for the State, reports that he was refused entry to the County and State’s joint press conference on Thursday, August 1st, where he had hoped to learn details of what had just happened in his neighborhood;

At the time of this interview, the couple said they had not been visited by anyone from TCI, and their multiple calls to the company’s insurer Zurich had not been returned.

A request sent to TCI by this site last week, asking to sit down with a representative of the company, has not been answered.

Below is a still image of some of the material observed in their aboveground pool late last week, during a visit with Ghent resident Patti Matheney. Other images and video clips appear in the video by permission from Lance Wheeler, Tony Bashford and Mark Johnson.

August 9, 2012

More onsite at TCI than previously known

YouTube video posted by firefighters onscene

Reports from the TCI of NY fire have repeated the reassuring claim that only one small drum of PCBs and a limited quantity of mineral oil were onsite at the time of the massive blaze.

Previously, report such as Tuesday’s Catskill Daily Mail article stated that “officials said the blaze began when a drum of PCBs, about 20,000 gallons of mineral oil and trucks somehow caught fire.” Other assurances from officials and the company have characterized the amount of PCBs onsite as small, and in low concentrations of 50 parts per million (ppm) or less.

But news reports from the past 24 hours paint a different picture. The Columbia Paper on Thursday includes an inventory said to have been supplied by TCI to the New York State DEC of “materials that may be present” in the building in their Falls Industrial Park Road facility in Ghent. That inventory includes:

“9 drums of PCB debris/oil”
“2 drums of PCB containing oily water”
“Hazardous waste PCB oils (50-449 ppm PCBs)” [quantity unspecified]
“6 PCB bushings with oil”
“10 55-gallon drums of non-hazardous PCB mineral oil (<50 ppm PCB)”
“127,000 gallons of non-hazardous PCB containing oil (less than 50 ppm PCB within 16 large tanks”

Also inventoried are “60+ full transformers” and a “500-galon diesel fuel tank.” The Columbia Paper also says that a second company, Power Substation Solutions (PSS) was storing sodium, oil, nitrogen tanks and diesel on site, but the company has not yet been reached by EPA.

All told, that’s a great deal more than one small drum of PCBs and 20,000 gallons of mineral oil.

Meanwhile, The Albany Times-Union’s James Odato has obtained “records that showed some 50,000 pounds of PCB-containing materials and oils moving from the Ghent complex this year… The regulatory reports for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Conservation show that TCI reported eight transactions involving about 50,000 pounds of transformers, fluids and other materials containing PCBs, including big shipments of petroleum oil or other liquid containing levels of 50 parts per million to 500 ppm, which is considered a hazardous concentration.”

The T-U article includes the same inventory as The Columbia Paper, but adds that “the company also reported having transported 2,700 pounds of ‘solid waste that exhibits the characteristics of ignitability’ this year.” A former company employee, Fran Vecellio of Kinderhook, is quoted at length in the article downplaying the severity of the fire.

Walter Hang, a prominent opponent of hydrofracking who also runs an environmental assessment firm, calls in the article “for a study of the toxic components in the soot because of the potential that PCBs went up in flames.” Neighbors of the facility interviewed by this site say that a visiting DEC official declined to take samples of oily clumps of material which fell on their decks, cars, lawns and into their pools—and were told instead to just wash or scoop these up. More on that soon.

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Beyond PCBs

Hudson resident Peter Seward, who has dealt with many materials and remediation issues on jobsites, points out that while the main focus of official concern regarding the TCI fire in Ghent has been PCBs, that questions ought to be raised about other pollutants as well.

Seward urges the public to also be mindful of “the fact that [what burned] was a hazardous waste site.” There ought to be, he says, an additional focus on waste oil, which “consists of bitumen by products which in turn consist of: arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead” and other worrisome components.

The question agencies such as DEC ought to be asked, Seward says, is: “Why is used oil regulated?” He further notes that

“Only through legal practices, and with set high temperatures, are such toxic things allowed to be burned. We, as a community, all may consider this... including the first responders, who, likely, suffer the most from the initial start of the fire until its demise. This isn’t a simple thing—very unlike what we have to deal with daily. This has been a real life hazardous waste fire. It requires thoughtful consideration, not bigotry and unnecessary ‘passing the torch’ to the state.”

One also wonders what other materials were onsite in the way of (for example) plastics, vinyl, metals, treated lumber, etc.; a waste handling structure is not built like an ordinary framed house.

Meanwhile, back on the PCB question, an environmental scientist in Kinderhook writes to a neighbor, after checking with a source familiar with utility companies’ practices for recycling transformers:

“TCI is considered a transfer station, in that they do not treat or incinerate the metal and the mineral oil. They send it elsewhere for destruction. The mineral oil contains the PCBs, and their permit should indicate the volume they are allowed to have onsite at any given time. If you know the maximum volume allowed, and the ppm limit for PCB, then you can get an idea of how much risk there is when the facility has a fire. Someone would have to do a ‘worst case’ modeling run to estimate exposure to surrounding environment and people.”

Part of the problem (per my interviews with DEC and DOH officials) is that none of these agencies appear to have any definitive idea of what was in or around the building at the time of the fire. Those agencies are either still trying to gather information—in the case of DEC, they have no shipping manifests for TCI in the public database after March of this year—or have made assumptions based on the company’s claims and others’ suppositions.

SamPratt.com