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Press Releases |
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Valhalla Fields Get Clean Bill of Health |
| Letter from DEC |
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Oct. 25, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Evelyn McCormack, 914-592-4203, ext. 412 Paul Ciminello, Ecosystems Strategies, 845-452-1658 Valhalla Fields Get Clean Bill of Health The Valhalla school district has been notified by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the state Department of Health that soils dumped at the Kensico School property in 2002 do not pose a health concern for the District or its students. Richard Baldwin, regional engineer for the DEC, notified Superintendent of Schools Diane Ramos-Kelly and Ecosystems Strategies, the firm that sampled the soil for the District, that the fill material dumped at the Kensico property and planned for use as ball fields “does not pose a significant threat to ecological resources or groundwater quality.” Mr. Baldwin also noted that the material “is predominantly natural soil and rock” and is not subject to state Solid Waste Management Facilities Regulations. The state Department of Health also notified Valhalla that the soils on the Kensico property “do not pose a health concern.” The Department of Health noted that most of the chemicals for which soil analyses were performed were not detected in the Valhalla soil. “This is great news for Valhalla,” said Dr. Ramos-Kelly. “This determination from both regulatory agencies brings questions about the fields to closure. I am confident about the composition of the soil now that the proper authorities have studied the test results.” Valhalla Board of Education President Grace Stone said that the District plans to reopen the fields for the spring athletic season, “and I am so looking forward to saying, ‘play ball.’” The hill created when the fill was dumped at the site was flattened, seeded for grass, and landscaped as baseball and softball fields for Valhalla High School athletes, but the site was closed when questions were raised about the fill. Dr. Ramos-Kelly held a town meeting last November when concerns about the fill were raised by community members. As a result of that meeting, the District retained Ecosystems Strategies to review data that had been collected by Gannett Fleming, a firm that had tested the soil in July 2004 and September 2005. Ecosystems followed up by submitting a new soil sampling plan to the DEC in the spring, which was approved. In June, Ecosystems Strategies conducted 15 borings at the Kensico site and collected 26 soil samples, from depths ranging from four to 23 feet. The soil was analyzed for PCBs, pesticides, metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds. Most chemicals for which testing was performed were not detected in the soil, according to the DEC. But of the chemicals that were detected, most fell below state safety guidelines. Levels of PAHs above state guidelines were found only in sample TP-7, which was the soil taken from the steep slope on the western side of the athletic field, facing Columbus Avenue. In that sample, the DEC acknowledged that levels of PAHs exceeded state guidelines, but concluded that “routine exposure to soil on the slope is probably unlikely.” The agency noted that the District should maintain the grass cover on the slope to further reduce the potential for exposure.
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