SOUTHPORT, NY (WENY) — Concerned Southport residents and the President of the Environmental Health Research Group are calling on state officials to clean up contamination along Coldbrook Creek. Data from nearly the last 10 years shows the creek is contaminated with toxic meterials, which spread to neighboring properties when the creek floods.
“The levels were so extraordinarily high, and nothing had been done to clean up the polluted properties for years and years…” said President of the Environmental Health Research Group, Walter Hang.
According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, metals and other toxic materials have been found in the soil where Elmira High School now stands, which is the the former Sperry Remington manufacturing site. The agency said contaminants associated with the site have entered Coldbrook Creek, which runs behind the school property and flows downstream into Southport.
Before it was Elmira High School, the site had a lengthy industrial history:
- 1887-1909: B.W. Payne & Sons produced high-speed steam engines.
- 1909-1935: Morrow Manufacturing Co. produced drill chucks, machine parts, and a line of tools.
- 1936-1972: Remington Rand Corp. manufactured typewriter parts.
- 1974-1977: Westinghouse Electric Corporation utilized the property primarily for warehousing.
- 1977: The property was deeded to the Southern Tier Economic Growth Agency.
- 1977-1979: The Southside High School was constructed on the northern portion of the original parcel, opening in 1979.
The Elmira High School property has undergone years of extensive environmental cleanup overseen by the DEC and Department of Health, performed by Unisys, which is the successor of Remington Rand.
Hang said that state officials have known about the contamination on neighboring land for nearly a decade, yet nothing is being done.
“Governor Hochul won’t clean up these properties that are known to threaten public health. It’s just an outrage, it’s mind-boggling why she won’t respond to the very carefully documented requests that I submitted in June, saying, ‘Please, protect public health by cleaning up these known, polluted properties.’ It’s like speaking to a brick wall,” said Hang.
DEC data samples show the presence of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in the creek neighboring properties like Bradley Farms in Southport.
“We’ve been a part of this process of identification that’s been going on for many, many years. We’ve been kept up to date as to when the testing was done on our properties. We received the data that was done and had to be taken care of. But that was several years ago, and everything seems to have come to a halt,” said Bradley Farms Owner, Dan Hurley.
He added, “We’re just looking for a timeline for when things can get started cleaning up. I don’t feel like we’re asking for much, but apparently we are… These are contamination problems that aren’t going away. It’s the responsibility of those involved to get those taken care of… Right now, we’re doing all that we can do. It’s just to create an awareness of what this is, and it really needs to be at the top level of a priority on somebody’s desk. We just don’t know who.”
Craig Weed also owns land in Southport where Coldbrook Creek cuts through his property. He’s also a hobby farmer, and has his cattle drink from the creek, and uses the water for his crops and garden.
“It impacts me because that’s kind of my hobby. Every day I’m down there doing stuff, and I have 64 acres, and it probably impacts maybe five acres of my land because there’s a big swampy part that keeps getting bigger because of the beavers. The beavers have dammed it all up, and it’s gone out into the corn field, and it’s just going to keep getting more and more contaminated,” said Weed.
He added, “I continue to use it, but I don’t go into the sediment. I have a pump. I pump the water about six inches from the top and hope for the best… I just hope they clean it up. We’re not asking for anything extra, just to make it safe so we can keep doing what we do every day down there and keep having cows,” said Weed.
Hang said millions of pounds of dirt and the groundwater contamination would need to be removed to solve the problem.
“We’re going to be making efforts to work with other farmers with the school community, with the residents, to let them know that they have to let the governor know loud and clear that there can’t be any more delay in remedial efforts. These problems have to be cleaned up without any further delay,” said Hang.