Dan Crowley of the Daily Hampshire Gazette is reporting on OSHA violations that occurred at the Round House parking lot cleanup. I first covered the issue in the spring and summer of 2007 and reprise those posts today, in this new context. Also, I have moved the photo galleries of the cleanup to the top left. Here is an excerpt from Dan’s article:
"OSHA inspectors based in Springfield began investigating the Round House site after receiving a complaint about possible health and safety violations from an outside party, according to the agency. OSHA alleges True Blue supervisors and employees removing coal tar from contaminated soil in the closed-off parking lot had neither received the required training nor been certified to safely perform their duties. Additional hazards cited included the following:
Employees overexposed to benzene, a hazardous substance contained in coal tar;
Inadequate controls to reduce their exposure levels;
No initial air monitoring to determine exposure levels;
No detailed evaluation of the site to identify hazards and necessary protective measures;
No on-site safety and health supervisor;
Respirator deficiencies and failure to record all workplace injuries.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has levied $95,750 in proposed fines to the company removing coal tar waste from the city’s Round House parking lot, saying the firm failed – sometimes willfully – to protect its employees from job site hazards, including overexposure to benzene.
The federal agency issued three willful and six serious citations to True Blue Environmental Services, a Wallingford, Conn., firm that specializes in environmental remediation and hazardous waste removal with an emphasis on former manufactured gas plant sites like the Round House parking lot behind Pulaski Park. The citations also involve the company’s work at a job site in Danbury, Conn., however; the bulk of the alleged violations, which include $79,750 in fines, were in Northampton.
OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. Willful citations are the most severe category of OSHA citation and they are issued infrequently, according to Ted Fitzgerald, an OSHA spokesman."
Read more at http://www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/ (subscription required)
Bob Cleary of Bay State Gas/NiSource provided an overview of the Round House parking lot environmental cleanup Monday July 2 for about fifteen to twenty people at the MacDonald House, 49 Old South Street, Northampton. Due to a citizen petition, the meeting addressed the Department of Environmental Protection’s mandated Public Involvement Plan (PIP) for the site, which is the proposed location for a Hilton Garden Inn and parking garage. Mr. Cleary said 24 people signed a petition, which transforms the cleanup from a private to a public process. As part of that process the public now has 20 days, until July 23, to comment on the PIP.
According to the draft PIP on May 9, 2007, Bay State Gas Company received a petition that requested that the former Northampton Gas Works site in Northampton be designated as a PIP site under section 14 (A) of the Massachusetts "Superfund" Law (MGL c 21E). A site is designated as a PIP site if ten members of the public indicate an interest in becoming informed and involved in the remedial response action process. The site was designated as a PIP site on May 9, 2007. A copy of the PIP and other Site reports will be available at the Forbes Library, 20 West Street, Northampton, in the reference section as of July 3.
Comments may be sent to:
Peter LaGoy, Bay State Gas, 300 Friberg Parkway, Westborough, MA 01581 Phone: (508) 836-7263 or via email to: PLaGoy@nisource.com.
Images of the cleanup
Mr. Cleary displays a 1911 schematic of the area that shows three round coal tar holders once existed on the site. As the work has proceeded Bay State Gas has discovered the presence of previously unknown coal tar wells. These areas will require additional remediation extending the project for several months more, possibly until the spring of 2008. This will increase cleanup costs beyond the $2 million estimate, though final figures are not available. Additionally, after work is completed on the Round House site, Bay State Gas intends to examine other surface parking lots on Old South Street to determine the potential for environmental remediation in these areas.
Source: Northampton Planning Dept., circa 1911
The bulk of the additional remediation will take place in the area located between the Round House office building and the bus station drive through. As well coal tar residue was found in the Round House office building’s basement. Work there will require manual labor plus an enhanced effort to protect workers from harmful fumes, as they will be working in an enclosed area. To further the effort Bay State Gas intends to utilize specially designed high-powered vacuum cleaners to assist in removing several feet of dirt from the basement of the Round House. The previous tenant has vacated the premises and Bay State Gas is leasing the building as temporary office space.
Air quality readings taken at the site’s perimeter show levels of benzene and naphthalene consistently below thresholds deemed unsafe for humans.
