ROSENDALE – The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has placed the Rosendale Citgo Station property at Route 32 and Madeline Lane on the Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites as a Class 2 site. The classification of a Class 2 site, according to the state agency, means the site presents a considerable threat to public health and/or the environment.

From 1960 to 1970, the site operated as a chemical company that dyed clothing. From 1970 to 1979 an automotive repair garage operated there and from 1979 to 1994 various gas stations were open for business. The present-day Citgo gas station has operated at the site since 1994.

DEC spokesperson Wendy Rosenbach said that, in her experience, this is an unusual situation.

"It's odd that an active gas station is in this classification," Rosenbach said.

Rosenbach said that the notification about the classification — called an "Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site Classification Notice" — came out of the Albany office. She also said she was sent a public notice dated April 14, 2010, from project manager John Miller of the remedial division from the Superfund Program of the DEC.

Rosenbach was surprised this issue was bumped up to the State Superfund level, stating that such a designation is reserved for properties with serious pollution problems. She added that "inactive" meant the pollution was from the past. She said, "This means it's contaminated enough to go on the inactive hazardous list. It would have been handled by our spills program if it were only a petroleum spill."

"Most likely since this is a gas station, they were doing some standard testing and, when doing that, they found other issues such as concentrated volatile organic compounds like solvents or degreasers," Rosenbach surmised.

Rosenbach said that the agency had conducted a State-funded Site Characterization in 2008, which indicated that groundwater was impacted with petroleum compounds as well as elevated concentrations of chlorinated volatile organic compounds "presenting a significant environmental threat due to the ongoing releases of contaminants from source areas into groundwater. The potential also exists for a human health threat due to possible exposure to contaminated soil vapor at off-site residential properties."

DEC Project Manager John Miller has identified some of the pollutants.

"There are still some petroleum products, such as benzene and degreasers, which may have come from the garment dye business or from the auto repair garage and also tetrachloroethene (PC) and lower levels of trichloroethene (TC)," Miller said.

Rosenbach said the "potentials" status would, most likely, be followed up with a "vapor intrusion" test to see if there is need for concern. If vapor intrusion on the interior of the building is confirmed, she said, "It's fairly easy to remedy by putting in venting systems."

According to Miller, testing has been ongoing periodically since 2008.

"Groundwater was tested last September and that is what gave us what we needed for this determination to go forward," he said. "Preliminary work has already been done and work is being done now for adjacent properties."

Miller described how they test for vapor intrusion in homes and businesses in the area: "We drill a little hole in the floor in different parts of the house to see if any vapors have intruded the home." He said then the data is gathered and evaluated.

"The New York State Health Department has certain thresholds set up, and if the data is above those, then we have to mitigate. We call that a remedial measure and it becomes a top priority and [we] remedy it immediately," he said. "We put in extraction points to draw out the vapors by fans. It's been proven to work; we do it all the time."

Miller, however, also stated that when they tested the groundwater for contaminants, the agency found that the contaminants are possibly flowing northeast, under Route 32, and behind the now-empty plaza that once housed Rosendale Hardware and Sunny Day Café.

"We want to look where the groundwater is flowing northeast — where there are a few houses behind the empty plaza," he said of the agency's next course of action.

The few houses that may be affected, either by vapor intrusion or groundwater contamination, are in the municipal water zone and do not use wells.

Although there are no immediate safety issues and no cause for alarm, the DEC public notice requested that property owners share the information with anyone who may lease or rent their properties in the vicinity of the site.

Jeffrey Hammond of the NYS Dept Office of Public Affairs said, "There is no immediate exposure concerns related to the Citgo service station. Strictly as a precaution the site is being monitored and further evaluation is being done."

In addition, all home and business owners located in areas possibly affected by vapors or groundwater contamination are kept up to date with information from the DEC via mailings.

If local residents or business owners have questions or concerns related to the project, DEC project manager John Miller is more than happy to answer them at (518) 402-9662. Any health concern issues should be directed to Nathan Walz of the New York State Department of Health at (518) 402-7880.