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NPL Site Narrative for GCL Tie & Treating Inc.
GCL TIE AND TREATING INC.
Village of Sidney, New York
Federal Register Notice: May 31, 1994The GCL Tie and Treating Inc. (GCL) site is a 26-acre inactive mill and wood treating plant located on Delaware Avenue, in the Village of Sidney, Delaware County, New York. The site is bordered by Delaware Avenue to the south, property owned by Homer Howe to the west, Railcon Inc. to the north, and Unadilla Silo and VanCott Development Inc. to the east. An easement for the Delaware and Hudson Railroad traverses the northern most part of the property. Land use around the site is primarily industrial and commercial; residential areas are located within 1 mile. GCL is situated within 1 mile of the southern bank of the Susquehanna River. The site eventually drains by overland flow to the Susquehanna by way of an onsite wetland which discharges to an unnamed tributary of the river. The Susquehanna River is a documented fishery and is also used for recreational purposes. The river is not used for drinking water in the vicinity of the site.
The GCL property has been used as a railroad tie manufacturing and treating plant since the 1940s. Logs were brought to the site for cutting and pressure-treating with creosote. The property was purchased in 1979 by Railcon Materials Inc. and Railcon Wood Products Inc. In 1983, Railcon formed the corporation called GCL Tie and Treating Inc. GCL ran the facility until 1987, when they filed for bankruptcy and Railcon regained control of the operation. Railcon sold all the inventory and equipment and abandoned the site. The site has remained inactive and current ownership is being investigated. Both EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation initiated criminal investigations at the site for environmental violations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, and the Clean Water Act.
Several potential waste sources including areas of contaminated soil and tanks containing creosote are located on the site. A creosote spill occurred in November 1986 when a pressure tank malfunctioned, resulting in an approximate 1,500 gallon spill of creosote to the surrounding soil. This soil was excavated by GCL and placed in a soil mound near the main building where it is still located. Former GCL employees submitted affidavits stating that it was standard operating procedure to dispose of creosote-contaminated material in wetlands adjacent to the site. At various times, unspecified quantities of creosote-contaminated material previously added to the soil mound were removed and deposited in the wetland area.
In October 1990, the EPA collected samples from the various potential waste sources on the site including areas of contaminated soil, a debris pile, and aboveground storage tanks. A sample of creosote was also obtained from GCL's supplier of the material, which was used as a chemical fingerprint to match the creosote constituents used by GCL against those found in the various chemically analyzed samples. The proportionality of the constituents was very similar between the sample from the supplier, and the creosote constituents chemically identified to date in various environmental samples.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.