The Morse facility on South Hill seemingly escaped significant environmental notice during the first few years of the 21st Century. The April 1, 2003 NYS DEC listing of Hazardous Waste sites considered the plant site to be "Inactive", having reclassified it to an official status of "4" - "Properly closed - requires continued management". The document's Assessment of Environmental Problems stated "A plume of volatile organics emanating from a concrete tank (referred to as the fire water reservoir)  is a threat to the surrounding environment. The low volume pump & treat system currently in use is helping to lower the groundwater containment levels." The report also stated "The remedy (operation of the two phase extraction system) is performing properly and is effective."

The groundwater extraction system continued to be used, and results were monitored and readings from one well (MW-3-31, located East of the top of South Cayuga Street, between the Fire Reservoir and the NYSEG Substation) are summarized in this February 2004 report prepared by Radian. The readings vary wildly from season to season and year to year: for TCE, summer readings (in micrograms per Liter) were:
  1996: 6900     1997: 1100    1998: 82,000    1999: 260    2000: 43,000    2001: 78,000   2002: 28,000    2003: 21,000
These readings are all relative to a NYS Target Cleanup Objective of 5 micrograms per Liter.
Within 2003, the last year reported, the results varied significantly as well:
  March: 20,000     June: 21,000     August: 5800    November: 28,000
After over a dozen years of groundwater extraction, levels were still very high and showing little sign of abating.

In May of 2004, Walter Hang, President of Toxics Targeting, Inc. held a Press Conference below the Morse Plant discussing the first of two letters he would send to Emerson and to the NYSDEC, referencing many historic documents and maps his firm had collected and prepared. The attention Mr. Hang's actions drew helped to spur a variety of actions, many of which are continuing. The extensive documentation he attached identified many issues which still have not been addressed by the responsible parties and State agencies.

In response to the concerns Mr. Hang raised, a group of South Hill residents signed a letter dated May 25, 2004, to the heads of the NYS DEC, US EPA, NYS DOH, and to the Mayor of Ithaca, requesting that the agencies report to the public on their responses to his points and that they press for actions for mitigation, research into how far the toxins have spread and the need for health studies.

The first reply received by the South Hill residents was a letter (dated June 16, 2004) from Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton indicating the she and her staff had taken the initiative to contact the various parties and would try to organize a meeting with the public.

During the first part of 2004, Emerson engaged Environmental Strategies Consultants LLC to perform vadose zone tests on and near the EPT facility. Their proposal for this plan was dated January 16, 2004 and approved by the NYS DEC on May 13, 2004. The samples were taken on June 17, 2004, and this report of the results, from ESC's Scott Haitz to C arl Cuipylo of NYSDEC, is dated July 7, 2004. Roughly half the samples taken showed TCE well above the relevant standards.

The Public Meeting was scheduled for August 4, 2004. On August 2, both NYS DEC and NYS DOH churned out their replies to the May 25 letter from South Hill residents. It took 10 weeks, but we had both replies and a Public Meeting.

The DEC letter, from Mary Jane Peachey, Regional Engineer, discussed the agency's response to the EPT situation, including the development and distribution of a "Public Information Session" announcement, acknowledged the consideration and on-going review of the site classification for possible revision (back) to class 2, based on the "new data" being presented, reported that homes within a certain area would be tested for indoor air quality, and that NYS DEC would work with NYS DOH to determine if mitigation systems would be required.

The DOH letter, from Gary A. Litwin, Director of the DOH Bureau of Environmental Exposure Investigation, reviewed the site history: in the late 1980's and early 1990's investigations showed that on-site groundwater eas contaminated with volatile organic compounds. These were atrtributed to the fire reservoir and seemed to decrease significantly as the plume flowed away from the source, and that these levels had decreased "significantly" since groundwater treatment began in 1991. He also discussed the testing of 10 houses in the lower South Hill area, and reported that "soil vapor intrusion" of various site-related contaminants was found at some of the homes, but that "health effects were not expected at the levels found." [One of the sites had an indoor TCE level of 46 ug/cm^3!]  Mr. Litwin went on to explain how some tests required by the 1994 Record of Decision were never (successfully) performed, but that EPT had installed new vapor wells on South Cayuga and South Geneva Streets, and results from these well tests "indicate the need for additional soil gas monitoring and indoor air sampling of nearby residences."

Mr. Litwin goes on to state: "We do not plan to conduct any health studies specific to this site. The data collected to date do not indicate that people in the artea are being exposed to chemicals from the site at levels that would be a health concern. In the absence of significant exposure, adverse health effects are not anticipated." His letter has a four-page NYS DOH "Frequently Asked Questions" document on "Soil Vapor Intrusion" attached.

Emerson Power Transmission (EPT) also prepared a Notice for the "Public Information Session", with a two-page "Fact Sheet" relaying their view of the site history and recent "soil gas" investigations. They will prepare a work plan involving indoor and sub-slab air testing, and the installation and monitoring of additional groundwater monitoring wells. These tests should combine to determine what additional "investigation activities" may be necessary." "Since indoor air sampling results may vary from season to season, it may be necessary to sample some of the structures on more than one occasion."

The Public Meeting was fragmented both in terms of time - there were two sessions: one at the hotel in the afternoon and another at the hotel in the evening. An "alternate" meeting with various State officials was also held in the (Borg Warner Room of the) Public Library in the afternoon. Emerson released their plan to test 32 homes very close to the plant. Homeowners in other neighborhoods were not pleased, but held out hope that the State agencies reviewing the plans would force expansion of the area. The Ithaca Journal report on the meetings is here.

The results of these tests, along with all other subsequent tests, are best reviewed in the SHIP Toxic Chemical Database site, which allows reviewing by property, chemical, and testing round with mapping of the results available as well.

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