County to foreclose J&L site after cleanup ruling is issued

CANTON — The St. Lawrence County Legislature's Finance Committee voted unanimously Monday to foreclose on the former Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. property near Star Lake — as soon as the state issues a formal decision about how the heavily contaminated site should be cleaned up.

State Department of Environmental Conservation Region 6 Director Judy Drabicki said Monday that the document should be ready by the end of the year. When issued, it signals that the county has fulfilled its obligations under a state contract to investigate the property's contamination.

"As long as the county complies with the contract, there is no liability," she said.

Lawmakers a month ago tabled a resolution to foreclose on the property, worried that taking ownership could make the county liable for environmental cleanup costs. The site is contaminated with petroleum, polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and other hazardous materials.

Northern Biofuels Energy, Chateaugay, wants the county to subdivide 10 acres of the 54-acre property to develop a wood chip drying plant. Ms. Drabicki said the county's failure to receive the state's decisiondoes not prevent the company from seeking the DEC-issued permits it needs to operate.

"I hope you understand that we have to do what's best for all of St. Lawrence County," Legislator Alexander A. MacKinnon, R-Fowler, told an audience full of Clifton and Fine community members who were upset by the board's previous decision to table the foreclosure.

Legislator Frederick S. Morrill, D-DeKalb Junction, supplied the crowd with mailing addresses for state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, asking them to urge the state officials to release the county of financial liability for the site.

"Letters from you could make a world of difference," he said.