EPA cleanup at Ithaca Falls concludes

Work to remove lead-contaminated soils from the Ithaca Falls gorge concluded Tuesday, marking the completion of the most recent cleanup effort that, to date, has cost nearly $5.2 million over the past decade-and-a-half.

Removal of approximately 229 cubic yards of contaminated soil and debris has been occurring every weekday since mid-September. Public access to the area was restricted while work was taking place.

On Tuesday, eroding rock from the old Ithaca Gun Factory site — the likely source for the contamination of the gorge floor — rained from above onto the recently cleaned stone ledge.

"We've already collected a few samples and found that to be true," EPA On-scene Coordinator Donald Graham said about the material falling to the gorge floor.

"Most of the material we cleaned up down here wasn't here in 2004," he said.

A temporary fence with a warning sign attached has been installed blocking the area where contamination was found. Graham said he expects a barrier similar to one at Cascadilla Gorge will be installed sometime before Thanksgiving, a recommendation given by the city's Natural Areas Committee.

The EPA excavation team cleared the ledge of soil as well as all the soil six feet from the ledge — down to the rock. During the soil removal, the EPA set up air monitors at the work site and at the entrance to the Ithaca Falls Natural Area. The EPA also did follow-up tests every 30 feet along the wall of the gorge, beyond the work site, to make sure contamination had not spread from the area where lead contamination was prevalent.

At the beginning of work, Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick wrote the EPA requesting reconsideration of Ithaca Falls remediation as a superfund site. Despite the evidence of incomplete cleanup efforts occurring on the site above in 2014 and 2012, Graham said he thinks it unlikely the EPA will re-prioritize the site for cleanup.

"The emergency response program I work in may trigger some more involvement on our part," Graham said. "But the NPL (National Priorities List) process is a much larger, more involved, time-consuming process that takes years as opposed to how we operate, which takes months."

Despite the potential for re-contamination, Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency Director Nels Bohn said he doesn't expect the threat to the public to be significant and there should be no need to keep the public out of the gorge, saying signs and fencing around the area should be sufficient in keeping the public away.

"Does it make sense to keep the public from coming down here? I don't think so," Bohn said. "The pathway of exposure here would be to breathe it or somehow get it on your hands and eat it or something, and that's not likely to happen if people know what's going on."

Moving forward, the site will be monitored every year and though contamination is likely to re-occur, Graham said he doesn't anticipate finding concentrations of lead as high as they were before the most recent round of tests.

"There's going to be more investigation," Graham said.