State Cleanup Of Parishville Lot To Begin
PARISHVILLE - A corner lot in the hamlet of Parishville with two fuel tanks and a hydraulic vehicle lift buried underground will be cleaned up by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation beginning next week as part of a federal stimulus fund initiative.
The 0.23-acre parcel of land sits across from the Parishville Town Hall and for generations was the location of a garage and gas station.
The pumps and garage have been gone for years, but DEC officials say there are still two 1,000-gallon fuel tanks, a hydraulic car lift and oil and other contaminants remaining in the ground. The property has been vacant for more than a decade and unmarketable because of the contamination, according to Town Supervisor Jerry G. Moore.
The property is owned by William R. Ashlaw, according to town and county officials, although property taxes have not been paid on the parcel for 15 years.
The St. Lawrence County Treasurer's Office said $46,641.66 is owed on the lot dating back to 1995. The figure includes back taxes and fees that have accumulated over the years.
St. Lawrence County Treasurer Robert O. McNeil said Friday it remains unclear exactly what will happen to the property once the DEC remediates the site, although there is a strong possibility the county government will move to seize the land and put it up for auction to recoup back taxes.
Mr. McNeil said in the past the county had no interest in acquiring the property because of the potential cost to taxpayers for cleaning up the site.
"We would have had to spend much more than the taxes to clean it up, that is why we didn't take title," Mr. McNeil said.
Stephen W. Litwhiler, a spokesman for the DEC, said the Parishville parcel has been on the state's radar as a brownfield needing cleanup for several years. But, he said the plot's small size kept it on the back burner for remediation until a recent influx of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money into the department.
He said New York state received a $9.2 million share of some $200 million in federal stimulus money earmarked for removing and cleaning up leaking underground petroleum tanks across the country.
"This is a separate federal stimulus fund designed to get these lingering spill contaminated sites cleaned up that are low in priority hierarchy" Mr. Litwhiler said. "The ones that are high in the hierarchy we push and get them cleaned up with spill fund money or however we can get them done. This one had never floated to the top high enough."
Mr. Litwhiler said remediation of the Parishville site should begin next week. He said the DEC will hire a contractor to remove the residual fuel still in the underground tanks and then remove both 1,000 units and the hydraulic lift reservoir, and the lift itself.
Contaminated soil from the site will then be removed and disposed of at a permitted Solid Waste Management Facility, according to Mr. Litwhiler.
Mr. Litwhiler said the property owner, Mr. Ashlaw, has given the DEC permission to clean up the land.
Mr. Ashlaw could not be reached for comment.
