NEPERA CHEMICAL EPA region 2
COMPANY, INC.	CONGRESS'0NAL DIST. 19
NEW YORK	1.5 miles southwest of Maybrook
EPA ID# NYD000511451 .	OtherNames:
Maybrook Site
Site Description
The site, a 29.3-acre former industrial waste disposal facility, is located in the Town of Hamptonburgh,
near the Village of Maybrook, in Orange County. It is situated in a rural residential and agricultural area,
near the confluence of two streams, with wetlands nearby. The former wastewater lagoon area,
containing six backfilled lagoons, occupies an area of about five acres. Currently, much of the site is
wooded and the former lagoon area is fenced and covered with grasses. Between 1953 and 1967, the
lagoons were used to dispose of approximately 50,000 gallons a day of wastewater from a chemical plant
in Harriman, New York. The plant produced a variety of pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals,
including pyridine-based compounds. State inspectors detected leaks from the lagoons in 1958 and 1960.
Because of the State's continuing concern about the proper containment of the waste and the threat to a
local well field, operations were discontinued in December 1967. By 1974, all of the lagoons had been
backfilled with soil.
Approximately 6,500 people live within a 3-mile radius of the site. The closest residences are located
approximately 250 feet to the west, and 175 feet and 450 feet to the northeast, and these residences rely
on private supply wells for drinking water. Monitoring of these residential wells, as well as 3 public
water supply wells for the Village of Maybrook, which lie approximately 800 feet north of the site, have
not shown any site-related contamination.
Site Responsibility: This site is being addressed through
federal, state, and potentially responsible
party actions.
NPL LISTING HISTORY
Proposed Date: 10/01/84
Final Date: 06/01/86
NEPERA CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC.
1
March 2002

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Threats and Contaminants
m
A wide variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds
(SVOCs), including pyridine-based compounds from pharmaceutical manufacture, pesticides,
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as well as
inorganic compounds and cyanide, have been found in the surface and subsurface soils in the
former lagoon area. VOCs, SVOCs, inorganic compounds, and cyanide have also been
detected in ground-water monitoring wells at the site. Surface water and sediment samples
contain some of these contaminants, as well. People could potentially be harmed if they
ingest or come into contact with contaminated water or soils. As noted above, sampling in
nearby residential wells has not detected any site-related contamination; additionally, the site
is fenced thereby limiting potential for exposure to site-related, surface soil contamination.
Cleanup Approach 	
This site is being addressed in two stages: immediate actions and a long-term remedial phase focusing
on cleanup of the entire site.
Response Action Status 	
Immediate Actions: All lagoons were filled by 1974, and a fence was constructed to limit
access to the site. Three drums were discovered during the RI test pit excavation during
1991 and these were removed and disposed of after analysis. The five-acre lagoon area was
fenced in 1995.
r\	Entire Site: In 1988, under a State-issued order, the potentially responsible parties agreed
to conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) to determine the nature and
extent of the contamination at and emanating from the site and to identify and evaluate
remedial alternatives. Following the review of the initial RI results, a second phase RI was begun in
1993 to expand the ground-water investigation and also to address additional on-site and off-site
concerns. A draft RI was issued in March 1996. Treatability studies to evaluate the effectiveness of
bioremedial treatment technologies for the site were performed during 1997. It is anticipated that the
RI/FS to address the subsurface and surface soil contamination at the site will be completed during 2002;
an RI/FS addressing the groundwater contamination should be completed in 2002.
Cleanup Progress (Studies Currently Underway)
By filling the wastewater lagoons and restricting access via fencing, the Nepera Chemical site has been
made safer, while further investigations leading to the selection of final cleanup remedies continue.
NEPERA CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC.
2
March 2002

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