Thursday, February 16, 2017

Honeywell Addresses New Contamination in Hoosick Falls

 

By Nicholas Buonanno

HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. >> More than 50 residents came out Tuesday night to the village Armory to get answers from Honeywell representatives about the latest investigation into environmental contamination in the village.

Honeywell representatives told residents and village officials at the monthly meeting of the village Board of Trustees that they are performing additional testing after announcing last week the discovery of volatile organic compounds that exceed state standards in groundwater and soil collected at and near the company’s former John Street factory. As a result of the discovery of VOCs, a group of chemicals used in many industries, including as a solvent to remove oils, the state departments of Environmental Conservation and Health directed Honeywell to immediately conduct a soil vapor intrusion investigation. 

Honeywell officials said the unrelated contamination was discovered as the company was conducting environmental investigations on and around two properties where perfluorooctanoic acid may have been used during past manufacturing. Honeywell’s predecessor, AlliedSignal Laminate Systems Inc., operated in Hoosick Falls between 1986 and 1996. According to Honeywell representatives, contamination was detected on the John Street property and the area of north of it, and additional sampling is part of the continuing environmental investigation.

“We are here tonight because between 1986 and 1996, Honeywell had ownership of several facilities that were in Hoosick Falls,” said John Morris, the company’s global remediation director. “In that time frame, which is over 20 years ago, we had facilities that operated here. We sold them in 1996, but we have responsibility for some of those sites, and that’s why we are here.”

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Source: The Record (via The Empire Report)

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