EPA takes on oversight of demolition at GM plant

MASSENA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking oversight control of the demolition of the former General Motors plant.

Anne E. Kelly, an EPA project manager, said her agency has ended negotiations with Motors Liquidation Corp. for a consent order detailing plans for work at the former GM Powertrain site.

"The EPA issued a unilateral order for the demolition and cleanup of the soils under the plant," she said. "The order was signed by our office Wednesday night. Motors Liquidation has indicated the facility will be demolished, and EPA is now taking oversight of how that will be done."

Ms. Kelly said the order includes oversight of the building's decommissioning and the issue of its contaminated contents.

She acknowledged that the recent finding of equipment with PCB contamination inside the former GM Powertrain facility likely will push the demolition schedule back.

"It will affect the schedule for demolition, but I'm not sure how that will impact the bid process," she said. "This was not envisioned in the initial bid specifications. I don't have a specific schedule."

Pamela L. Burnett, project manager for Motors Liquidation, said there had been an aggressive schedule component for the demolition work. Bids have been solicited for the demolition work, but she told members of the North Country Redevelopment Task Force on Thursday that the work had not been awarded to a contractor yet.

"The schedule may slip, but I don't foresee it slipping that much," Ms. Burnett said. "We're still taking a look at the order and evaluating it."

Motors Liquidation plans to demolish the 1-million-square-foot plant to the underlying concrete slab.

Jason Clark, economic development director for the Business Development Corporation for a Greater Massena, questioned whether the EPA's decision to impose a unilateral order was a response to Motors Liquidation not moving fast enough in developing a proposal for the consent order.

"I won't comment on that. This is the EPA stepping forward," Ms. Burnett said.

Meanwhile, the potential risk for PCB contamination in items donated by GM to local schools, government agencies and nonprofit entities is still under investigation.

"There are a myriad of scenarios that could grow out of this," Ms. Kelly said. "We're still scanning our data. We still can't determine if there is or isn't a risk."

Prior to holding mid-June liquidation auctions, Motors Liquidation instructed crews to clean and test all equipment up for sale. Those items were swipe tested and cleared to leave the plant.

But recent paint samples taken from some of the equipment told a different story — some of the pieces that left the plant and others still sitting at the facility showed elevated levels of PCB contamination embedded in the layers of paint.

The concerns about PCB contamination in the items sold at auction led to questions over the safety of the items GM donated to agencies and organizations in 2008 and 2009 as operations at the plant wound down.

Ms. Barnett said efforts are under way to identify the agencies and organizations that have items donated by GM.

"We have made an offer to take back and dispose of it appropriately," she said. "That's just getting rolled out. We hope to have all of our contacts made by the end of next week."